Day 14 Gratitude Challenge

I often find Mondays a challenge due to numerous meetings and things that popped up over the weekend. Yesterday was no exception. I didn’t do as well as I could have following my own challenge. Plus I reread yesterday’s post and feel I left too much out. I try to keep these posts short and to the point. Yesterday’s post was too short for the points I hoped to make.

I want to elaborate on the key elements of this gratitude challenge. First, I hope to perform each challenge throughout the day on the day it is posted. It is essential to take the action as I believe action leads to change.

Second throughout the day (and hopefully every day), I take time to reflect on my actions. How did the actions impact me? Did my action impact others? How so? For instance, if I asked someone “What is good today?” Did that generate an interesting conversation?

Finally, and this is the hardest part for me, take time to record my thoughts. One can do this through a written journal, computer file, or a recorded memo. But writing it down forces me to process it. I prefer the written journal but often do it on the computer.

I will give a brief example of an experience today. After work, I asked my wife “What was good today?” I thought it was a slam dunk question because just moments before she was praising the brussels sprouts, broccoli, and vegetable medley I had prepared for dinner. Her response was “Nothing!” Our conversation improved from there but it was interesting. Our conversation focused mostly on all that we had which put both of us in a better mood.

As the other part of yesterday’s challenge, I limited my complaining, tried to be more present and mindful throughout the day, and thought about the positive impacts on my life. Overall, a win.

The challenge for today is to pick any three previous challenges and incorporate them into your day along with thinking about your own strengths and talents. What strengths and talents are you grateful for?

As implied above, it can be easy to focus on what we don’t have and/or want. We often take for granted what we do have. One of my strengths is my passion for photography. Most pictures posted in this blog, I have taken. But few know that I received the Outstanding Disco Dancer award in 4th grade…and based on my blog statistics, the number of people who know will remain low! Have a great day!