Grateful for Me

We hear a lot these days about the power that a consistent gratitude practice has on our health, wellness and success. There are many different activities to do this - list three things you are thankful for each night before you go to sleep, create a gratitude jar and add slips of paper of things you are grateful for in it whenever you think of them, etc., etc.

Yet most times when we make these lists, we are thinking of or writing down things outside of ourselves - people, possessions, experiences, etc. We very rarely take time to be grateful for aspects of ourselves. Doing this may be difficult for some of us, but the payoffs to our mindset and wellbeing are well worth the effort.

Try this out now. Grab a sheet of paper and a pen. On that sheet of paper write down things you are grateful for about yourself. How many should you write? How about one for every year you have been on this earth? You may write things like…

• The kindness I show others

• The love I have for my family

• My generosity

• That I stopped and picked up the candy wrapper that was on the ground in the park

• My creativity

Perhaps make this an annual activity. Every year on your birthday, take out another blank sheet of paper and pen and create a new list - this time with one additional item in comparison to last year. This just may be the best birthday gift you can receive!