Gratitude, A New Attitude

I started a gratitude journal over the past week. It was a suggestion of my health coach and admittedly, when she mentioned it (as she mentioned it before), I thought it a ridiculous idea. The thoughts went something like this, “I’m grateful! Of course I’m grateful for all I have and I KNOW what I have to be grateful for so why do I need to document it each day.”

The truth of the matter is that me a few months ago would probably have rather wallowed in my sorrows (as silly as that sounds) instead of focusing on what I do have. It’s a cycle. Focus on lack, get depressed and therefore continue to focus on lack. Even describing it now, I feel ashamed that I let myself get so caught up. Bringing it back to the present, which hasn’t been a simple path to reach, I’m in a good place and this gratitude journal is actually pretty awesome—even for a skeptic. Sure I did realize what I had to some degree but now that I am focusing on details, I notice even more and just as the negativity caught on, the positivity is pretty catching as well. Most importantly, it makes me feel better and what I’ve noticed is that I handle others’ negativity in a completely different way.

On a side note as far as the negativity around us, make sure you all draw your “lines.” What I mean by that is that let peers and family know when enough is enough. It is very easy to get caught in the cycle of just taking what others dish out but this isn’t going to help you or them in the long run. You need to set expectations.

All right, that’s all for this week. Go change the way you view the world and happy writing this week!

 

 

Filed under: A writer's life, romance, Toni Kelly