I've been thinking a lot lately about gratitude. And how it's practice in my life have made things so abundant and generally full of joy, even in otherwise tragic times. I know so many that have a propensity for gratitude, and I wondered aloud recently about how this was developed. How could we become more intentional about gratitude? It occurred to me, and this is not an original thought by any means, that this intentionality comes down not to feeling the emotion so much as noticing those things that will make us grateful. If we see these things, the gratitude kind of comes for free. And this requires some focus...a means of bringing circumstances that may otherwise be missed to the forefront of our minds.
For example, my friends, Sarah Christ and Linnea Olson take beautiful pictures that often call upon us to see something ordinary and experience the extraordinary. Interestingly, their practice calls these beautiful things to their own minds, but their sharing also calls us all to take notice and to similarly find extraordinary things that we are thankful for even in our ordinary day to day. I love seeing these pictures in my social media streams. My friend Samantha Mixon frequently points out those that contribute so much to our community, including celebrations of those that we have lost. In doing so, she calls upon us all to notice these gifts and to be grateful for these folks, both living and gone, that have made things just a little bit better for us all. Chris Draft took his personal loss of his beloved wife and turned it into noticing survivors. What a generous feat! He also shines light on doctors and researchers who are working everyday to make our lives both longer and more comfortable. We look to those survivors and to those medical professionals to give us hope, to give us what it takes to get up everyday and move forward even when we don't feel like it. For this, I am profoundly grateful.
I help myself notice things to be grateful for, to bring these things front of mind, in at least two ways. I like to jot things down in a simple journal or share things on social media. And as a family, when we sit for dinner together, we have a ritual of sharing our "gratefuls." It works wonders in helping to reframe those days that are particularly tough. The secret to noticing is that if you earnestly look around you, you'll find things to be grateful for everywhere you look. How do you notice? Who else helps you notice? I'd love it if you would share your thoughts below. In fact, I'd be grateful.