I recently made the connection that gratitude and practicing gratitude are two entirely different things. I feel very grateful for the blessings in my life, but on the other hand I know I’m not putting my gratitude into practice very often. It’s one thing to know I’m grateful, but it’s another thing to claim what those things are and bring them to my awareness on a daily basis. For a lot of people, this can mean the difference in feeling apathetic about ones life or feeling happy, grateful, and blessed.
As I mentioned in my Goals for 2012 post, I was struggling with more internal negativity than usual. Shortly after writing that post, I realized that my goal of reducing negativity wasn’t the best goal because I didn’t say how I was going to overcome it. Great goals always have a plan, right? I decided to change my goal up slightly. Instead of saying that I was going to reduce negativity, I now say that I’m going to reduce negativity by incorporating a daily gratitude practice in my life. My goal now has a plan!
When I told Eric about my plan, he was eager to join me. Initially, my plan was to write down 5 things that I’m grateful for each day, but after telling Eric about it, he suggested that we do it together. Instead of writing it down, we would just talk about 5 positive things from our day with each other. It’s now a daily gratitude conversation. Not only does this keep us accountable (it’s like having a workout buddy!), but it allows us to share the goods things that went on that we otherwise may not have known about.
I’ve tried in the past to keep a daily gratitude log, but I always found that I could never stick with it. Having someone as my gratitude buddy will help me commit to this practice each day. We’ve been telling each other 5 things we are grateful for before bed and I’ve been blown away by what a difference it makes in our outlook. Not only do I enjoy hearing about things that have made him happy in his day, but I love to share things with him. I like to relate it to gift giving; is it better to receive a nice gift or is it better to watch someone open a gift you gave them? Sharing joy, increases the joy in our own hearts.
As an added bonus, it’s a great way to tell your partner something that they did to make you happy. How often do we do things for each other that go unrecognized? It’s the perfect time to say “I acknowledge what you did and that makes me feel grateful”. Of course, this can be done any time of the day, but sometimes all we need is a quiet moment to reflect on things.
For all of you who have a hard time sticking with a daily gratitude practice, my challenge for you is to find a gratitude buddy. It can be your partner, mom, sibling, roomie, best friend….anyone you love and trust. Pledge to share 5 things you are grateful for each day. Some days will be easier than others to come up with the list, but that is the point. If you don’t live with the person, you can call them on the phone, Skype, or even just commit to emailing each other your list each night before bed. Or maybe once a week works better for you. You come up with what will be realistic for your life!
Sketchie is thankful for boxes. :)
Since we started this daily gratitude practice, I’ve felt significantly happier and more positive than I have in a while. I totally underestimated how much of a difference it would make and now I’m a believer of the positivity daily gratitude can create. I find myself thinking about good things throughout the day because I know that I will have to come up with 5 things before bed. In turn, my positivity is increased all day long.
In my mind, practicing gratitude is simply bringing all of those daily experiences that we all have to the forefront of our minds. Gratitude does not negate the bad things that happen to us, but it’s a conscious choice to bring our attention to the positives in each day.
I’d love for you to join us with this challenge!
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For other Daily Glow posts, see:
Graduation Fears
The Silly Things We Say
Do What You Can…Today
What’s Your 6-Word Love Story?
Without Self-Love, I Have Nothing.
Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain
Kicking the Pop Habit: Eric 1 Year Later
Weekend Inspiration
How to Reframe and Negative Thought with a Thought Record
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This is a really great idea because as a society we’re very focused on the future and what’s next rather than appreciating what we already have – most only do it once a year on Thanksgiving (if at all).
It’s great as well that you have a husband who sees the world the same way you do – that makes for such a strong relationship.
This is such a great idea! I did something similar with my SO at the end of the year (what we were most grateful for about each other), but daily is an even better idea!
I love this idea as well and have been thinking about gratitude a lot. I recently bought a gratitude log journal thingy to keep by my bed so I could reflect at night, on the positive things in my life. I feel like you are taking it to another level and we could all benefit from such reflection.
great idea! I will be telling my family about this :D
Love this idea! It is so easy to fall into a negative mindset and forget that it is actually ourselves who have control over how we choose to perceive life. This was a lovely post and a great way to remind oursleves to notice the small things that could otherwise roll on by unnoticed.
What a great idea! I imagine this would be great to do with children as well. Every night before they go to bed they have to think of something they are thankful for or something positive that happened that day. A wonderful way to instil gratitude early on!
Yes it would! See the Oprah comment above :)
Well done Angela and Eric :) This is a beautiful practice and it really helps you see beauty in even mundane things. My husband and I do a similar thing, and it just helps us to really appreciate life and all the little things that make our lives what they are. Keep up your great work and reap the benefits :) xx
I am a huge fan of the gratitude list at the end of the day. More often than not once I start thinking about my day I remember all sorts of little things that were awesome about it and come up with more than five. Definitely helps put life in perspective.
I think the regular practice of gratitude is very important for a healthy life (the premise behind my Thankfulness Project Monday posts). Keep up the good work!
awww this is such a great idea! I write a gratitude journal – it feels great to end the day with something nice…but I’m gonna try this with Phil :-)
Such a great idea. I do find myself to be quite negative recently and want to bring more positivity in my life. I definetly will bring this up with Eric (my Hubby), since I know he needs so gratitude in his life as well.
Angela, I love, love, loved this post. I have experienced the exact same thing with my anxiety and negative thoughts. If I focus on the positive and what I’m thankful for, I am much more happy and feel better. Keep up this practice.
I have a “gratitude” list on my iPad and I add one thing I’m grateful for each morning.
I love that you keep a running list…then you can always read it over!
I LOVE this idea! Thanks so much for sharing it! I do a gratitude list most every day but the idea of a “gratitude conversation”–that is awesome. I’m going to talk to my husband about this! I’m sure he’ll be up for it as well! Thanks! :-)
I love the idea of a gratitude buddy b/c it is hard to find time, but having a buddy would help put it into practice more.
I am also really enjoying your blog since stumbling on it a few days ago. I just read your “about” section and really appreciate your honesty about the inspiration for the blog….plus your food is amazing! I’m seriously going to have to just spend one day looking at all your old posts!
I just returned to my gratitude journal after a (very) long break. Funny, I was just talking about this on my blog. I guess a lot of us are thinking about starting the new year off right. I love your idea of making it a gratitude conversation. Double the impact!
I absolutely love this! Actually taking the time out to state things for which you are grateful has such a profoundly positive effect on one’s attitude and overall life. I promised myself that I would be more actively grateful, and I am going to take a page from your book and state them out loud each day. Thanks for the inspiring post!
What an awesome idea, Angela! It definitely is one of those things that’s easier said than done, but really should be done in order to actually achieve anything. I take on the challenge and have now initiated my husband as my gratitude buddy (he just doesn’t know it yet). I’ll start by telling him and everyone who reads this that I am greatful for having such a loving and caring husband who loves me despite all my crazy antics, ideas and mood swings. He rocks my socks and I heart him so so much.
Love that!
And this “he just doesn’t know it yet” heh
Angela I have a question! I was watching this show “The Chew” today and they made a “pizza roll” calzone type of thing. They explain it here: http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Michael-Symon-Pizza-Roll
Do you think I can use your pizza dough recipe that you posted here: http://ohsheglows.com/2011/08/02/how-to-make-homemade-pizza-dough/ for this endeavor? I’m hoping to make a vegan version! Maybe with some vegan pepperoni if I can find some. Let me know if you think the dough you made will work! THANKS!
I can’t see why not! It’s just pizza dough rolled up right? Let me know if you try it! I’ve been wanting to make one of those.
Yea basically just pizza dough rolled up with yummy fillings. I will probably try it Friday or Saturday, so I’ll let you know!
This is such a wonderful post and I can’t wait to implement your ideas! Thank you :)
What a great idea! A gratitude buddy. Love it.