Gratitude

Last year during the month of November, I decided I wanted to shine some light on living with gratitude during the month of November. I did this by spending some time every day thinking about what I was most thankful for and then I posted that one thing on Facebook to share it with my Facebook family. Many of my friends on FB loved the idea, ran with it and began posting thankful posts as well. This absolutely thrilled me. It’s was like a mini-gratitude movement. How lovely! I have to say, it was really fun to read their daily thankful posts. It actually made the month of November a little more exciting when I logged into Facebook and it helped me learn more about them too. The idea was birthed either the morning of November 1^st last year or possibly the day before. I can’t remember all that clearly, I’m just glad I ran with the idea and posted every day because the pay off blessed me and I think it blessed others too. I posted for many reasons, partly because its the month we celebrate Thanksgiving but mostly because I wanted to do something to encourage a paradigm shift in thinking and to shine a light on living with gratitude. Those who logged into FB regularly read my daily thankful posts. I prayed and hoped that my posts served as a reminder to give thanks to a holy God for the goodness in our lives. I also posted and shared because it helped me too. It helped me to rise and end my day with gratitude. I’ve learned that every day is not a perfect day but there’s always something in our day that is good and we should be thankful for that. I also posted because I truly love inspiring others to live with gratitude. I think its in my DNA.  

We’re living in a day and age where negativity is every where. It’s always been prevalent but lately it seems ridiculous. We hear it in various forms and from various mediums such as the local or global news we watch on television or what we hear on the radio. Sometimes the negativity comes from a chronic complainer who giftedly manages to find something to awfulize each and every day. Can I get an Amen here? These are the individuals who need a dose of positivity pumped into their veins, daily! We all encounter them, don't we?  We encounter them at the work place and sometimes they show up at family gatherings. There's no escaping them but bless them, because I think they’re the ones that would benefit the most from a paradigm shift. My friend Katie and I call them our extra-grace-required (EGR) encounters. And contrary to most people's opinions, I don't believe they're a hopeless cause. They just need many people to be a light in their world and some would def benefit from professional help for sure. They need people to not be afraid of their pain. Their negativity is almost always a symptom of some sort of pain they're carrying. These people I'm learning often need more encouragement, attention, love and affirmation because somewhere along the way, they didn't get enough of it.

In light of how fun and successful my daily thankful posts were last year, I decided to do a repeat this year to encourage living with gratitude. I can only hope and trust that my thankful attitude and my Facebook posts will inspire others to live with gratitude as well even if its only during the month of November.

Yesterday my thankful post was: I’m thankful for the deep rooted hope my heart feels. I'm hopeful and prayerful about many different things these days.

Today I’m thankful for the little trip I’m making to my favorite little day spa to get my eye brows waxed. Yes, it’s not an over the top thing but I’m always super thankful when I receive any type of pampering. Always makes me feel a little happier. And happy is good, isn't it? :o)

What are you thankful for today?

Until next time, be well and be thankful …

~Ruthie

p.s. The picture I included in this post is a picture frame I purchased at Crate and Barrel recently. Instead of a picture, I decided to use it to encourage gratitude. The frame sits in my office at work on a book shelf. It’s the first thing I read every morning when I walk in and it serves to set the tone for a great day filled with gratitude. And a strong cup of coffee helps immensley. ; )