10 Things On My Gratitude Attitude List

You know that old cliché “we’ve got so many things to be thankful for”?

Well, guess what? Like many clichés, I’ve discovered that, for me at least, this one turns out to be true.

Not only that, the more things I’m thankful for, the more they seem to multiply.

A couple of months ago, I started writing a daily list of some of the things for which I feel grateful. (Hmmm, well, actually “ALMOST daily” would be more accurate, because some days I just don’t get to it…)

Anyway, I started writing the lists because my friend Holly included me on one of HER lists, which she forwarded to me. It felt pretty cool to be the object of someone’s gratitude. (I like being appreciated almost as much as like appreciating others, which is kinda’ what AWR is all about, but I digress…)

I asked Holly more about her list. Here's what she said:

I've been doing my gratitude list for about three years now, thanks to a class I took with Jen Macaluso-Gilmore: www.somethingdifferentnyc.com.  I do my grat list daily to center myself, and to create a fantastic, grateful mood for the day - everything usually goes my way after grats! VERY POWERFUL! 

I send my list mainly to women who have gone through Jen's courses, plus others who are inspired. If someone makes my grat list, I send it to them asking if they want to receive it daily. This usually gets them to start one and it grows from there.

I HIGHLY recommend this daily practice. It has changed my entire outlook on life – I constantly live in a state of gratitude for everything. I don't stress out or freak out like before.

It only takes about 10 minutes to do because it flows from the heart. I receive numerous lists and keep up to speed with other's lives from all over the world, and I love hearing what others are grateful for.

Everyone who receives grats gets motivated and inspired by the massive action we are all taking: grabbing life by the balls and going for it!!!

Grabbing life by the balls sounded like a good idea to me, so I started my own list a couple of months ago.

Here’s a sampling of things I’ve included in various lists:

1. I’m grateful for seeing the shadow of a white-tailed dear as she turned and fled silently at the sound of my footsteps in the snow.
2. I’m grateful Liane told me she watches Patti & Susan’s Dance Video every couple of weeks and that it brings her joy and tears – that alone makes the making of it worthwhile.
3. I’m grateful that my Mom again told me the story about her uncle Bob who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross during WW II for climbing out on the wing of a bomber in flight and repairing the electricals, thus saving the lives of he and his comrades.

4. I’m grateful that life hasn’t called on me (so far) to be so brave.


5. I’m grateful I’m not in a war, or a war zone.


6. I’m grateful for the opaque frost that feathers upwards on the old glass panes in the cathedral window in the upstairs hallway, and for the way the white Christmas lights on the big fir tree outside shine through it at night. The frost will melt, then reform anew in another magical pattern the next time it’s cold enough - one of nature’s own crystals, totally unique and more spectacular than any Swarovski ever created.
7. I’m grateful for celery.
8. I’m grateful that a woodpecker can hang upside down on piece of suet more skillfully than a cirque du soleil acrobat can cling to a trapeze.
9. I’m grateful for words and writers and wrapping paper.

10. I'm grateful for you :)

I wonder what you’re grateful for…