Tis the season for gratitude…. at least when most of us take more time to consciously think about it.
I have found that Gratitude is a daily practice that can literally transform your life! Today, I’d like to share with you a few of my favorite gratitude practices. Plus the newest one I added this week in my home and I am LOVING IT! (you get the free printable to use at your house!)
Grateful Journal
Get a notebook/journal and write 3-5 things you are grateful for each morning when you wake up. It will start your day awesome!
Begin with Gratitude
I know.. the last one said to do it in the morning… this is a bit different. When you first come into consciousness, start thinking of all the things you are grateful for. I’ve been doing this one for a while now and LOVE IT! My day starts beautifully thinking of how blessed I am to have a warm home, a soft bed, a heater, and that I am alive!
Anytime Gratitude Game
On those days when I’m feeling rushed getting everyone ready and out the door to go, it’s easy to feel frustrated with lost socks, shoes that don’t fit, coats that have run away or people who decided to wait to eat breakfast until we were leaving… We get in the van to leave and everyone is feeling a bit frazzled. We take 3 slow deep breaths and say a “safe prayer” that the car will work, we will be safe and have angels with us (this has produced miracles many times). Then sometimes we need to play the gratitude game.
“I say I am grateful for ____. ” Then call the next person’s name. We go around and around saying things we are grateful for until we feel happy and peaceful again. It really works wonders.
Gratitude Snowball
I love this one. Sometimes we will pick one thing and thing of all the associated things. This began on a day we were going to load up our van with organic potatoes for a group order. It had been a crazy week and I was having lots of doubts about why I was doing it again. (I think this was also when I had just gotten off crutches from hurting my foot and couldn’t lift them.) This game was born and it turned out to be a great day.
Begin with one thing and think of everything that went into you having the one thing. For example:
I am grateful for Potatoes
I am grateful for the farmer
I am grateful for the rain
and the sun
and the tractor that plowed the field
and the worker who drove the tractor
and the people/machines that harvested them
and the baggers
the dirt
God who made the earth
the seeds that grew
the truck that brought them to us
the people who mine the oil and make the gas and haul the gas and own the station that fuels the truck to get them here…
you get the idea. It can go on and on and really gets you thinking about how you get things that seem so simple. As well as appreciate the value of things you buy. (this is helpful to release the scarcity mindset and see how really abundantly blessed we are)
Grateful Lists
(This is the newest one that I added this year and I’m giddy about it)
I am a homeschooling mama and I wanted my kids to do handwriting, but focus on gratitude. I made this quick printable for them to record 100 things they are grateful for. Everyday they add 10 things. It’s so fun to see their handwriting and what is important to them. My little man is all about playing and lots of his are grateful for people playing with him and things we play. Another child is grateful for lots of foods, others focus more on family and hobbies. I love this mini-snapshot of their life.
Today I was playing Phase 10 Dice with some of my kids and grabbed a page for myself. It was neat to see what is most important to me and I do believe this will be a yearly tradition. (They even have Uno in the dice can now! I’ll have to try that next. We love playing dice games during lunch – they don’t get soggy like cards and no one scatters since they are eating!
I printed them on yellow papers to make them different. I suggest you to them on card stock so they are sturdier. I plan to save them in their “Awesome Book” of cherished things.
I think next year I will get some light tan/brown, deep orange, harvest yellow, burgundy card stock to make them even more festive. In the top corner I put their name and “Nov 2017”. {oooohhh! I’m giddy just writing about it. I love them so much!}
I made them simple on purpose… They can be used anytime. Not just at Thanksgiving. Here are a few ideas:
- Start Nov 1st and write a few a day
- Take to a family gathering/party/bunco and have each person fill one out (or just the top 10-15, then do the rest at home) Roll some dice, and everyone shares what they wrote on that number.
- To create a shift… Sit down, take a few deep breaths, put on some calm music and write 100 things you are grateful for in one sitting. It has a special way of brightening the mood
- Family Challenge: can you come up with 100 things in 10 minutes working together as a family? in 5 minutes? (bonus if their is some healthy treat as a celebration for completing it)
- Waiting Project: Keep one in the car or in your purse/briefcase/backpack. Write while you wait for carpool, on a family trip, waiting for class to start, for an appointment, etc..
- Grateful rolls: print single sided. fill out, cut into strips, roll up or fold and bake them into the dough with your rolls for a gratitude dinner.
Of course, when I love something so much, I have to share it! {I’m working on getting all the things in my files available to bless your family as they have mine — subscribe to make sure you get notified and get the freebies}
Click below and print away!
MORE OF MY FAVORITE RESOURCES:
- I created this Table Stand to help my family focus on Gratitude every day! I hope you love it as much as I do.
- Gratitude and Generosity Series: free training by my amazing friend/coach, Tiffany Peterson. She does it in November each year and it so fills my cup!
Thank you for letting me share! If this helped you, please share it, pin it, and all that good stuff so it can bless others as well.
