Finding Happiness: A Gratitude Journal

Earlier this week, I was inspired by a website that I somehow stumbled upon called The Greater Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life, and it has tons and tons of articles that are backed by Berkeley research about that subject. One of the things I saw talked about creating a journal of the things you are grateful for, or a Gratitude Journal. I wouldn't consider myself an unhappy person at this point in my life, but I definitely have a lot of stress and some of it is related to feeling like everything goes wrong for me, continually wanting something more and better, and always comparing myself to others.

So, I thought "Hmm... what if I mindfully thought about the things that I am grateful for? Would it help me look at my situation differently? Yes, probably. But journals always fail for me, so maybe it's a stupid idea. But wait, I have a blog. What if I wrote weekly about what I'm grateful for? It could be a beautiful thing!"

And that's how ideas come together in my head, folks.

So I thought all week about what I would write, and I've come up with the following concusions:

• I'm grateful for my mom, my dad, Hammie, Grandma & Grandpa B, my sister, and pretty much my whole family that I can always count on to support me when I’m in need of something. (A.k.a all the time)
• I'm grateful for my amazing co-workers who I always go to for advice. They’re an amazing support system of friends and secondary mother figures that have really guided me through a lot of things.
• I'm grateful for winter days that are cold but still nice enough for me to walk from work to Julian’s daycare to my mom’s house without being cold. You know, since I’m car-less and everything.
• I'm grateful for fruit smoothies and homemade lattes to get me through my mornings.
• I'm grateful for the Internet, which is where I get to virtually visit pretty homes and imagine our next apartment décor.
• I'm grateful for Dom, for being understanding and always patient with me, even when I get crazy ideas that he gets dragged into. And also for supporting me on my venture to become physically (and therefore mentally) healthy.
• I'm grateful for the time I get to spend with Julian every day, even when he’s not being the best version of himself.

So there, those are the things I'm thankful for this week. I'm excited to have an opportunity to mindfully think of all the things I do have right now. Gotta stay positive!

The most positive thing is that it's Friday! I'm looking forward to packing more of our things up this weekend and hopefully haulding them over to our new place. I don't know how they'll get there, so if you see me walking down South street with a red wagon full of stuff, that's me moving.

Happy Friday!!