Giving thanks is a daily ritual of mine. As such, I decided that I would like to blog about something I’m passionate about and in doing so perhaps it may help just one person who is feeling down, to put a smile….if ever so slightly on their face.
These posts are meant to resonate and inspire. I plan on using my own life’s experiences as my cliff to jump off. Occasionally, I shall re-post from inspirational sayings that fit in with my own experiences.

Paying More Attention to What I’m Grateful For

This is such an awakening time for me as I do say my thank you’s each and every day, however, I too need reminding of truly being grateful and lessons learned. I’m definitely experiencing daily ups and downs lately. It seems like some hours of the day go great, and I’m actually enjoying some of the changes that are happening in my life. Then, the challenges mount as the hours pass—and I get so stressed out.

Of course, the more I feel (and focus on) that stress, the more the little stressors seem to magnify in importance, increasing my overall load. My stress is mainly coming from trying to manage the many challenges I’m going through on a daily basis—and every day, those challenges seem to change and evolve.

The rest of the time, I feel great about how things are going! I can see a clear path through everything we’re facing—and it includes us continuing to help a lot of people.

Yesterday, I was getting worked up about work (or the lack thereof) and decided to take a bath and just relax. As I sat in the warm water, I looked at my surroundings, the trees about to fill with new growth, the birds flitting around my yard, and the bunnies chasing each other under the hedges, when I realized…

….A major key to relieving my stress is simply paying more attention to what I’m grateful for.

In that moment, I started thinking about the many things I’m grateful for, including—being able to sit in this beautiful setting when so many are struggling to take care of sick family members and friends; all the amazing healthcare workers tirelessly helping people in hospitals across the country; and the fact that my family are all healthy. This list goes on and on.

As I sat there, thinking about the things I’m grateful for, I could almost feel the stress lift out of my body.

I hope you can take some time to consider the many things you’re grateful for in the coming week or weeks to come. And I hope that you find (like I did) that it helps you feel more peaceful.