Naturally, November is the month I equate to gratitude. Is this true for you, too? The holidays and celebrating growing up is a part of it, but in my adult years it has really expanded due to my habit of stating my review of the current year and planning for the next in November.
The first thing I always do when I am reviewing is to look for the good, what went well, what am I grateful for. This is the foundation in the quest to be your best and to live your best life.
I love the bridge we can make from last week’s topic of growth and gratitude. Growing as a person is put on the fast track with a consistent gratitude practice.
I am devoting the blog this month to gratitude on many levels. We will immerse together. This week is a great time for you own review and reflection.
Do you have a current gratitude practice? What is it? How might you expand it this month? Take note of where you are today so that you can measure your growth at the end of the month.
If you do not have a current practice I have a suggestion to begin today, and I encourage it to build over the month. Note where you are starting from. Note your beliefs about what gratitude means. (We will talk more about this next week!)
Beginning Gratitude Practice:
Get a notebook or journal and a pen and put it by your bedside.
Make the last thing you do before you turn out your light at bedtime be to write down 3-5 things you are grateful for.
OR
Make it the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning.
Experiment with both to see which time works best for you to be consistent. Some people do both and you may evolve to that, but for now pick one time so that you can build a habit.
If you miss a day, just start again. Work toward not duplicating from day to day and try to be expansive in your gratitude’s themselves.
Example- I am grateful for: my daughter becomes I am grateful for: my daughter’s smile and laughter because it connects us.
Try it this week- there is no such thing as perfection, no truly right way to do this, so enjoy the exploration!
Extra credit, for now, is to include yourself in your gratitudes- 3 about other things, two about yourself.
Next week, after you’ve been at it for a week, I will share more insights.
Happy November and enjoy the week ahead. I am grateful to you for reading my blog and moving forward alongside me because it makes it so much richer for me to be writing gratitudes in connection with you.