1,000 Things to be Grateful For : 100 Days of Gratitude, Day 1

A few days ago someone told me about the 100 Happy Days Challenge. I checked out the website and I think it's great to take note of all the things you're happy about...but why is it a challenge? It says "Can you be happy for 100 days in a row? You don't have time for this, right?" I'm here to tell you that you have time to be happy every single day in a row forever, and that's probably what this project is about. There are things each day that happen in and around our lives that are truly miraculous. Taking moments to think about and even record these things are gifts that we should give to ourselves and the people that help make us happy.

I call it gratitude. And gratitude is a constant lesson in my life that I absolutely love and turn to daily. It can change your day. It can change your life. The first time I ever did any real work with gratitude I was asked to write for 5 pages in my journal about everything I was grateful for. If I ran out? I kept going. It started off with things like

• I'm grateful for my family
• I'm grateful for my beautiful home

and by the fifth page I was getting really creative

• I'm grateful for my hardwood floors, because I hate carpet

and things like that. It was such an amazing exercise. I could go on for 10 pages, 20 pages! It would be boring to read, and to write, but I could do it. And so could you! There are always things. Sometimes I have bad days, and these are the most important days for me to make my list.

• I'm grateful I'm not homeless
• I'm grateful I have all my limbs

I know a lot of folks think they're too cool to be grateful. But you're not. When someone tells me they don't have time to be grateful I ask them if they have time to feel shitty. I know at times my friends are annoyed when they complain to me and I tell them to hang up and write down 10 things they're grateful for. I've even been known to say "Gratitude is the attitude", how annoying is that? Ha! But I say it because we should all be humbled in the face of our problems, even when those problems are completely valid. But I'm not trying to tell you what to do. I'm just telling you what I'm doing.

I usually do my gratitude list before I open my eyes in the morning and as soon as I close them at night, but for the next 100 days I'm going to do them here on my blog. I'm going to make time to do it. 10 a day, for 100 days. 1,000 things to be grateful for. Enjoy, chime in, and if you're having a good day, maybe start one of your own. If you're having a bad day, definitely start one of your own. There's only one rule: No negativity in the list! For example, I can't say

• I'm grateful I don't have a job right now since I can't work, even though it also means I have no money!

No. This does not work. Gratitude only.

Day 1

1. I'm grateful that my surgery went really well last week.
2. I'm grateful that some people I love dearly came to see me after my surgery and make me smile.
3. I'm grateful that my mom took care of me when I got out of the hospital.
4. I'm grateful that I don't have to go to an office and I have the comfort of recovery in my own home.
5. I'm grateful to have great friends who have been calling, texting, sending things, etc. to let me know they're thinking about me and they want me to heal soon.
6. I'm grateful for Derby Blue, who is ok with me walking really slowly when I take her out and is content to lay about most of the day.
7. I'm grateful for Bob Ross, who I somehow got into today because, well I guess I needed to, and I'm grateful for his genuine loving words. 
8. I'm grateful for my breakfast burrito I had this morning. It was so filling and delicious! 
9. I'm grateful for my niece and nephew, that I got to see them so much in the past few days and soak up all their amazing love.
10. I'm grateful that watching a bunch of kids run around in the grass for a few hours reminded me to remember to play.