I’ve been a little quiet around here lately. I didn’t exactly plan to take October off from writing, but sometimes life makes plans without bothering to consult you. There was a friend’s birthday to celebrate and a tennis tournament to help with, while the day job stubbornly insisted on remaining a day job. Somewhere along the way, a couple of Saturdays came and went without anything new from me. I’ve got a few pieces half written, and we’ll see if they ever get finished. If you stopped by looking for something to read, I’m sorry I wasn’t here.
Some of you have been reading long enough to remember November 2020. It was a difficult time in my life, and my wife knew I was struggling. She gave me a gratitude book that one of her coworkers had put together. That little book became the starting point for something that would make a real difference in my life. Over the years, I’ve used it as a framework, made some modifications, and added a few thoughts of my own. For five consecutive Novembers, I made a point of spending a little time each day thinking about the people and things I was thankful for.
The woman who created that book passed away in 2024. I don’t know if she ever realized how much of a difference her work made in my life, but it did. And while I’ve made the tradition my own over the years, I haven’t forgotten where it started. Last year, I never made the time for it, and I’ve missed it.
So, the Gratitude Challenge is back. Starting tomorrow, I’ll share something here every day that I’m grateful for. It might be a person or a memory, or something so ordinary that most of us walk right past it without giving it a second thought. Nothing terribly elaborate, just a paragraph or two each day. My regular Saturday essays will take November off and return in December.
I’d love for you to follow along. Read every day, catch up on the weekends, or try it yourself. You don’t need a special book or even a pen and paper. You can do it over your morning coffee or while you’re trying to convince yourself to get out of bed. There aren’t any rules, and nobody’s keeping score.
But here’s something I’ve come to believe. If you make a conscious effort to spend just a few minutes every day thinking about what you’re grateful for, something begins to change. Your problems don’t disappear, and the people who annoy you will probably still annoy you. But you start noticing things you might otherwise have missed. A little kindness here, a reason to smile on a day when you weren’t expecting one. And somewhere along the way, you begin to realize there’s an awful lot to be thankful for, even when life isn’t quite going the way you’d planned.
I could use that reminder again. Maybe you could, too. See you tomorrow.
