SAD Mini-Challenge...Be Grateful, Goddamit.
It doesn't have to be hard to make a gratitude list.
Okay, I will admit, I very much want to be a journal girly, but I am not. Fancy journals, cheap ones, loose-leaf paper…you name it, I won’t do it. And as a sober person, this is almost considered sacrilege. You are supposed to keep a journal and you are supposed to write about gratitude.
I don’t.
I am also not a great morning person, so I don’t feel grateful first thing in the day. And I am so tired at night, it is also a hard time for to muster up writing something down. Just make the day end, you know?
But a couple of years ago, my friend Anne had the idea of texting little gratitudes to each other. Usually three things, sometimes only one; it could be as mundane as sunlight (is sunlight ever mundane, though?) or as complex as seeing a kiddo through a hard time. We were pretty good at it until we stopped. Because…life.
I was again reminded of gratitude lists today, and again I thought, “Ugh…journaling.” Then I picked up my phone and texted Anne this:
Profound? Nope. But she wrote back her stuff…also profound and mundane.
We don’t write each other hype-notes nor do we feel the need to babysit each other’s emotions.
We are just putting our glimmers out there.
And between the darkening hours and the climate in the country, finding glimmers feels as needed as oxygen.
The SAD Challenge:
Find a friend and set up this text agreement. Make your own rules.
Text whenever you want, and however many items you want.
You don’t need to do it every day.
Writing “being alive” is enough.
If you are having trouble, go outside. Usually there’s something good outside. Or get near dogs.
If you don’t want to text anyone, say it aloud to yourself. Yes, it matters that you say it aloud.
Make it a family thing unless they fight you on it. Nothing worse than forced gratitude.
If you need to put it out into the ether, e-mail me your gratitude list. I won’t write you a book, but I will probably send you a thumb’s up. Because I will read it and it matters. meghan@mlparentcoach.com
You could look at this dog and be grateful for its little smoosh-face.
Drop your gratitudes in the comments; it may inspire someone.
Love you.
Just enough half half left for my morning coffee/milk.
Long hugs with my kids