“I have noticed that the Universe loves Gratitude. . . Gratitude brings more to be grateful about. It increases your abundant life. Lack of gratitude, or complaining, brings little to rejoice about. ” Louise Hay

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a
home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. - Melodie Beattie

“As the months pass and you fill your journal with blessings, an inner shift in your reality will occur. Soon you will be delighted to discover how content and hopeful you are feeling. As you focus on the abundance rather than on the lack in your life, you will be designing a wonderful new blueprint for the future. This sense of fulfillment is gratitude at work, transforming your dreams into reality.” Sarah Breathnach

Assignment:

Each day, write three things in your journal that you are grateful for. If you are in severe pain or in personal crisis, this may be hard to come up with at first, or it may seem trivial compared with your overall situation, but it is a useful exercise and will become easier as time passes. Keep your journal by your bedside and write in it each night before going to sleep, or pick another time of day, such as first thing in the morning, when you are fresh, to write.

There are many things to be grateful for. Some examples include:

being alive and changing our lives
thrift shops and garage sales
having dreams
M&Ms and chocolate
mud and little boys
a computer that works most of the time
the assistance we receive from our social network
soft kittens and warm mittens
making it through each hour, each day; having three good hours out of the day
butterflies and freedom
the peace and quiet of sleeping children
seeing the trees wave in the wind
being able to read
having a friend to phone
a sunny day
my loving family
beautiful memories of a child when small, of falling in love, etc.
the ability to forgive myself when things don’t turn out just the way I was attached to them turning out.
living in a community that is tolerant and welcoming

A simple way to make your journal unique is to make a collage from magazine cutouts on the front cover. The theme of “things I’m grateful for” can be used in the decorating process: family photos, recipes, favorite sayings, fabric swatches or a child’s drawing.