Changing Perceptions for Three Years

Today I am grateful for these first three years as a blogger and I am grateful to those of you who take the time to read and reflect on my words.

Three years ago today I posted my very first "Habitual Gratitude" blog post. How time flies when you are having fun and improving your outlook on life. I began keeping a gratitude journal in 1995. I have been writing my own thoughts on gratitude for a long time. It became a much different ball game when I started writing about gratitude with other readers in mind though. I had no idea what I would learn and gain, what I continue to learn and gain.

The process of habitually noting how gratefulness looks in simple, daily ways has deepened my own sense of what mindful appreciation is all about. What I didn't anticipate is how it would further bring out the writer in me. Practice doesn't make perfect, but practice does make better. In blogging and in observing and internalizing gratitude.

Here is that very first post from March 27, 2012. Another thank you to my sister Danita for her email use of the words "habitual gratitude" that helped me find a name for this blog and provided me the little push I needed to launch myself and my words into the blogosphere.

And this post 34 days later tells "How Habitual Gratitude Was Born."

This quote from Jean Houston showed up on gratefulness.org recently:

"Change the story and you change perception, change perception and you change the world." 

The words at the top of my blog are "Building a better perception of self and surrounding world through regular practice of gratitude." 

I can truly tell you that my perception of self and surrounding world, and my acceptance of both as well, has continued to improve as I continue to practice gratitude. It works. It really does.

If my posts help you consider gratitude more, great! I encourage you to come up with your own ways to note what you appreciate each day as well. What are you waiting for? Start today.