I opened up my journal this morning and at the top of the page, it said, “Free write for 5 minutes all you are grateful for in your life.” My first reaction was, 5 minutes is too long. I will just write for a couple. I wasn’t looking forward to the day ahead of me. I was feeling overwhelmed and defeated. This exercise seemed silly. But I started writing anyway.
I started with the normal things: my home, my health, my family, my job (even though at the moment I wasn’t feel all that grateful), my faith…. Then I started to transition into other areas of my life that I take for granted – adequate food, clean drinking water, freedom to speak my mind, a working car, fresh air. Then it got a bit silly….my morning pre-workout drink, my comfy shoes, having my lunch packed for the day. It wasn’t long before other things popped into my mind — my renewed friendship with my brother, living in a place where I feel safe, the relationship I have with my kids, being able to share my feelings with my husband even when they are hard to articulate sometimes…and the list continued. Before I knew it, 5 minutes were up and I wasn’t even done.
Incredible really. My stress level was significantly reduced and even though I knew the day ahead of me was still grim, I felt like I could navigate it with peace and calm. And you know what? That feels pretty dang good.
It was also a good reminder for me that if I start my day with gratitude, my day goes better – something that I need to keep in my morning routine.
So try it. Take 5 minutes and make a list of all you are grateful for today. It can be big like your home. It can be little like your cup of coffee. Just start making a list. I bet you will be pleasantly surprised how good you feel.