February is one of my favorite months of the year. The days start to stretch, the weather gradually warms up, love fills the air, and coincidentally- and in no way biasing my opinion, it’s also my birthday month.
I entered a new decade this year, and I wanted to do something special about it. I got inspired by posts I’ve seen online on what people did to mark that beginning. As part of my celebration, I decided to write a list of 30 things that I was grateful for. That, and chocolate cake, of course.
I started cultivating the habit of gratitude a little over a year ago, after reading Brené Brown’s Daring Greatly. In her book, she talks about how gratitude is the antidote to the feeling of scarcity, of always wanting more. When you’re practicing gratitude, you’re focusing on what you have, rather than what you don’t.
I would usually think of 1-3 things that I was grateful for every day, which, with time, became easier to do. By thinking of 30 things, I knew I would have to think more deeply.
I wrote the first half of my list with little challenge. It was made up of the things I often recalled during my daily gratitude and in general. But when I got well into the second half, I found myself having to think harder. At first, it felt like I ran out of things to be grateful for.
I was sitting outside in a beautiful warm afternoon. I decided to pause and take a deep breath, taking in my surroundings. The birds were singing, and the tree branches were swaying with the gentle breeze. The smell of fresh grass and earth wafted into the air.
I returned to my journal with a clearer mind, and I finished writing the rest of my list. I was surprised by how much that pause changed my thinking. At the same time, I realized that this is probably what I needed the most. A pause.
Not surprisingly, it also made me feel good afterwards. It further reinforced my habit of morning gratitude. What better way to start the day than to be thankful for what you have?
I think that in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we forget to take those pauses: To be, rather than to do. In forgetting to do so, we are caught in a race that we may not even want to be a part of, to get more of things we may not even want. And when we’re immersed in that mindset, we take what we have for granted; things we were blessed to have or may have worked hard to get.
The things we can be grateful for don’t need to be big and grand. It could be an afternoon cup of tea, a fun conversation with a friend, a tasty dinner after a long day, or a warm pair of socks on a cold night. The end product is the same. You end up feeling good!
Can you think of a small thing that you’re grateful for?