How Grateful Are You?

I heard about the book, 365 Gratefuls by Hailey Bartholomew and decided to check it out. I was impressed.

Bartholomew began the project when she was having feelings of depression She started with some daily journaling which led to the idea of taking a photo every day for one year when she discovered that writing down the little things made her realize how much she had been missing. Each day's photo would show something for which Bartholomew was grateful.

What she found was that the project made it clear how much gratitude affected her life on a daily basis. It also helped improve her mental depression, her spirituality, her relationship with others as well as her physical self. Before long, Bartholomew found it difficult to take just one photo each day. She discovered that there were multiple good, positive, grateful moments in her life every single day.

Wow.

What a great idea. And not just for moms who are currently raising children. It's a fantastic idea for empty nesters as well.

Some people look forward to living in an empty nest. They have these wonderful husbands with whom they want to spend alone time with. They want to travel and take up new hobbies. They have their empty nest years all planned out.

Not all of us are that lucky. But we do all have daily gratefuls in our lives and, if we pay attention, we'll see them. I didn't have a terrible time with the beginnings of my empty nest. I had some highs and lows and I did my share of stressing but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. And it only took me three years to totally adjust. :)

But, had I thought of this whole photographing the grateful moments thing, I would have given it a go. Why not? It's a great way to see the things that we just can't see without looking for it due to being overcome by our current situation.

What's stressing you right now and keeping you from seeing your daily gratefuls?