3 Simple Ways to Stay in a Grateful State All Year Long

I find it so ironic that the day after Thanksgiving is Black Friday. People who just spent the day before being thankful, run out to stores to buy more stuff. This topic is one that is talked about every year around this time, and I don’t want to be just another voice saying the same thing. So, I’m not going to comment more on that.

However, this subject gets me thinking about how important it is to be grateful daily, not just once a year. Gratitude is rarely something that just happens. More often than not, we have to be intentional about cultivating and maintaining a grateful attitude. So, as we head into the bustle of the Christmas season, consider making the time to implement one or more of these ideas each day.

Three Easy Ways to Stay in a Grateful State

1. Meditate on the things that you are grateful for

Take a few moments to just sit and reflect. Think about what you are grateful for today, this week, this month, etc. This exercise doesn’t have to take long, but if you make it part of your morning routine, it sets a positive and grateful tone for the rest of your day.

 2. Make a “Gratitude” or “Blessings” Jar

I’ve seen this idea floating around the internet, and I love it! (Though in full disclosure, I haven’t actually done it . . . yet). Basically, all you have to do is get a jar or container that you like and label it to please your aesthetic standards. Store it somewhere convenient and keep pen and paper handy. Throughout the year, write down things that you are grateful for, or that have blessed you. At the end of the year, you have a jar full of blessings and gratitude.

3. Keep a Gratitude Journal

This is one of my favorites, probably because I am a writer by nature. Keep a journal dedicated to writing down things that you are grateful for. Try to make it a habit to write at least one thing a day. It is so fun going back and reading what you’ve written later! I designed a simple journal for just this purpose. You can get it here. If you aren’t a writer, you can also try keeping a video journal.

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An Open Letter to My Body

As I’ve been cleaning my home, I found a letter that my mentor, Hannah Keeley, challenged us to write last summer. It’s a letter to my body, and as I know that I’m not alone in the things I’ve gone through, I thought I’d share it with you. I hope it encourages you.

An open letter to my body:

Dear Body,

Wow, are you amazing! You have endured so much hate and abuse, yet you continue to function and serve me. You have endured excess weight, and then endured starvation as I attempted to remove that weight from you. You have endured intentionally self inflicted scratches, cuts, and bruises, and you have healed from these wounds each time. You have experienced surgery and illnesses and each time you bounced back healthy and whole. Each stretch mark, and each scar are scars of victory, because each one reflects a time when I abused you and instead of giving out on me, you adjusted and healed and continued to function.
I’m sorry for all that I have put you through. I know now that you are a beautiful instrument, the home of both my soul and the Holy Spirit. You are strong and resilient, and you allow me to do so many things. You provide my husband with immeasurable pleasure. You continue healing yourself from all the things I’ve done to you in my search for beauty and confidence. You are balancing yourself and preparing yourself to be a nurturing home for new life whenever the Lord chooses to allow you to conceive a child.
From now on, I am treating you the way you should be treated. I am nourishing you with healthful foods and moving you in a way that strengthens and heals you. I am taking care of you and treating you with the love and respect you deserve.
Love,
Me

End of Summer Thoughts

Today, I want to share with you where I am right now and what I have been learning.

End of Summer Thoughts

A lot can change in three months.

As I shared with you in May, in back March I experienced a miscarriage. My husband and I had previously decided that at the end of the school year I would be leaving my job to work from home. Losing that baby really confirmed for us that the best thing for me was to remove myself from the stressful situation working for the school district. So, as of the beginning of June, I am no longer employed outside the home.

Then, two days after my job ended, surprise!

We found out that I am pregnant again! It was a surprise, but we are so excited to be welcoming this little one sometime in February of 2019.

The last couple months have been mostly filled with rest for me. I have had pretty constant morning sickness since about a week before the positive pregnancy test. However, I have been learning to embrace it as a sign that my baby is healthy and strong.

While I am beyond thrilled to be pregnant, I would be lying if I said that this season of transition hasn’t been hard.

Transitioning from working to being a stay at home wife (and soon to be mom) has had its challenges. Additionally, feeling my body change has had its hard moments. I had no idea how hard it would be to make the transition mentally from focusing on my health with the goal of weight loss to focusing on my health with the goal of a healthy baby. When you have spent the last 5+ years of your life trying to lose weight, it’s hard to embrace your pants getting tighter even when you know that it’s normal and healthy!

Despite these challenges, as a whole, this season so far has been an incredibly joyful and peaceful one. Being constantly nauseous has forced me to really slow down and be present in each moment. As a very driven, goal oriented person, this was hard at first, but I am learning to embrace and enjoy it.

Since I have not been able to be as physically active as I normally like to be, I have been doing my best to keep my mind active.

As I have been spending a lot of time on the couch, I have gotten quite a few crochet projects done. (Yay, getting ahead on Christmas gifts!) While I crochet, I’ve been listening to podcasts and Mom Mastery University training calls. I am so thankful to have so much quality content to be learning from instead of watching TV!

I’ve also been enjoying just sitting in silence. Growing up in a large family, silence was at best rare during my childhood years. Then, as I got older and struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts, silence became an enemy. Since being healed from those destructive thoughts, however, I now relish silence. It gives my brain a chance to clear and process. It also allows me to meditate and pray, and listen to what God wants to say to me. I know that life with a baby will very rarely be silent, so in this season I am really learning to enjoy each and every moment, and appreciate the ability to choose to sit in silence.

So, that’s what’s been happening over here lately.

I’d like to leave you with a couple thoughts today.

Firstly, when was the last time that you sat in silence and just existed? If you are anything like me, I’m betting it’s been a while! This week, intentionally make time to sit in the quiet. It doesn’t have to be for very long, maybe ten minutes. Just sit and enjoy the moment. I think you’ll be surprised at how refreshed you feel after doing it!

Secondly, do you invest in yourself regularly? Do you regularly take the time to improve yourself or increase your knowledge or skills in some way? This could be taking a class, reading a personal development book, listening to personal development podcasts, etc. If the answer to that question is no, I really encourage you to start investing in yourself. There are a variety of ways to do this, and only you can choose what is best for you. But if you want to live your best life, it starts with investing in yourself.

If you want to start investing in yourself but you don’t know where to start, please leave a comment or contact me and I would be happy to share some of my favorite resources. I can guarantee that I have something to fit any budget or schedule.

5 Mindset Shifts That Will Change Your Life

Your success is largely determined by your mindset. If you are consistently making excuses, complaining, and focusing on what you wish you had, you will never get anywhere. However, if you take ownership of your choices and actions, choose to be joyful, and focus on what you can do right now to get where you want to go, you will eventually succeed.  All of these choices start with your mindset. I’d be lying if I told you it was easy to change thought patterns. It’s not. But it is worth it.

Here are 5 mindsets you need to develop if you want to grow as a person and achieve success.

5 Mindsets You Need to Have if You Want to Change Your Life

1. Change Begins with Me

Nothing and no one is going to change until you do. It’s not up to your parents, spouse, kids, boss, friends, or whoever else you want, to change. It is up to you. Have you ever heard the saying “You can’t control others’ behavior or what happens to you, but you can control how you respond”? I heard this saying all the time growing up, but the older I get, the more convinced I am that this is true. You have complete control over how you respond to situations, even if you have zero control over what that situation is. But – here is the critical part – how you respond dictates what happens next. The change begins with you. You change your response to a situation, and you can alter the course of your life.

2. I am Responsible for My Life

This goes hand in hand with the mindset that change begins with me. Once you realize that you are what needs to change in order for your life to change, the next step is taking ownership of your life. You, and only you, are responsible for where you are in life now. You are the one who made the choices that got you here. Therefore, you are responsible to make the choices to get yourself somewhere else. There is no room for a victim mindset in a successful life. If your life is a mess, it is your responsibility to make a change.

3. The Definition of Failure is Giving Up

This was a hard one for me to learn. For the majority of my life, I thought that failure was falling, so whenever I would fall, I’d put the experience in the box marked “I’m a failure”. Generally, once something was in that box, it never came back out. But by living in that mindset, I missed out on so many wonderful opportunities to live life! It took a while, but eventually I learned that falling is not the same as failing.

People fall and mess up all the time. Falling is normal, and it’s to be expected. It is the choice that you make when you do fall that decides whether you fail or grow. If, when you fall, you choose to give up and stay down, that is when you fail. However, if you choose to stand back up, brush yourself off, and start running again, you will eventually succeed.

4. There is no Such Thing as Perfect

This one is arguably the hardest one for me. Notice I said is, not was. I use present tense because honestly, I’m still struggling with this one in various areas of my life. Some people (including me!) have this tendency to think that if they can’t do it perfectly, they can’t do it at all. This so wrong! When you believe that, you get caught up in “perfection paralysis”.

In other words, when you’re focused on being perfect, you never do anything because outside of heaven, perfection is impossible. However, when you understand (and become ok with) the fact that things are never going to be perfect, you will realize that it’s better to do something rather than nothing, and you will finally make progress. One of my mentors (Hannah Keeley) loves to say: “Sloppy success BEATS perfect failure“. I don’t think there is a better way to put this concept. If you absolutely must have perfection, you will fail. But if you are willing to muck in and get something done, even if it is sloppy, you will find success.

5. Breakthrough Doesn’t Happen Overnight

This is a crucial mindset to own and understand. So many people want the quick fix. They want to wake up and have their life magically better overnight. What you need to understand if you are going to be successful is: lasting change cannot happen overnight. Changing your life takes effort, perseverance, and time. However, if you can stick it out and stay focused on your goals, ultimately, you will get where you want to be.

 

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