Gratitude on the Go

A is for Arthur, my step-son.  B is for banana, my favorite fruit.  C is for my cancer support group, what a wonderful group of women. D is for Darcy, my husband.  E is for Emily, my step-daughter. 

You get the idea. If you want to mix it up, do an A-Z gratitude list. I like to do A-Z lists on runs or when I give myself quiet time on either end of my commute to work. Consider it gratitude on the go, mobile appreciation. I don't usually write down my A-Z list, but you certainly could.

I know others who keep an ongoing list and just add a few items to it each day or whenever they feel like it.  The advantage of writing it down means you can refer back to it if you aren't feeling very grateful and you need a boost.

I write in my gratitude journal in the morning. I find that it helps me start my day more humble and more calm.  It has to be daily for me, because otherwise I get lazy and sloppy and pretty soon I'm not doing the journal anymore and my attitude starts to slip to the negative.

This point was brought home to me after I had kept a journal for a few years. I thought I had the gratitude stuff down-pat and didn't need to write it down anymore, so I stopped. Wrong!  After a time, I realized self-pity was knocking on the door too often and too quickly. It took some more time, but then I knew what I needed was to go back to writing my gratitude journal. I haven't stopped since, and have no plans to stop.

Good habits lead to good outcomes.