This is Day 1 of the 14-Day Gratitude Challenge held in Aug 2013, where we practice gratitude for 14 days. The challenge is now over but you can do the tasks in your own time. Visit the overview page for all the challenge tasks.
Hi everyone, today is the first day of the gratitude challenge! Are you ready to start? I sure am!! :D
Day 0 Review: Start a Gratitude Journal
Yesterday, your Day 0 / pre-work task is to start your gratitude journal. Many of you posted such AMAZING gratitude journals that I was simply blown away! Check some of them here:
Gratitude journal by sunshinegirl. Look how vibrant and cheery the colors are, just like her nick suggests! :)
Gratitude journal by long-time PE reader, Sulthana, who is using her blog as her journal! You can, too, with free ready platforms like WordPress and Blogger as I mentioned in Day 0’s post. Check out Sulthana’s blog here: Hijack My Heart
Here is Jane’s gratitude journal. I love the artistic design she has chosen, along with the little heart and flower decorations!! So pretty!! ♥
Carli Groven’s gratitude journal. One word: GORGEOUS!!
We have some readers who went with the minimalistic approach with their journals, which are no doubt charming in their own way. I love their focus on message over design.
Annette Hatley’s gratitude journal, done in Powerpoint!
Ludo Vangilbergen’s gratitude journal, created in Evernote. :) Evernote is a free notetaking software that lets you take notes from your mobile, desktop, laptop, etc. and syncs the content in one central location.
I love the simplicity of this — gratitude journal by Jade. :) Created in MS Word / Libre Writer!
Last but not least, reader Andi-Roo injected creativity into the concept of a gratitude journal! She created a pinterest board to serve as her gratitude journal, as you can see below:
A pinterest board as a gratitude journal, by Andi-Roo. Check out her pinterest here: Gratitude-ish Things
Above are just some of the gratitude journals I have showcased by the participants. More awesome gratitude journals can be found in Day 0’s comment thread.
If you haven’t already, read Day 0’s thread and create your gratitude journal before proceeding with Day 1. You will be using your gratitude journal for the 14 days ahead, as well as after the challenge to journal your feelings of gratitude!
Day 1: Things You Are Grateful For
How many times do we take for granted the things which we have in life?
How often do we assume that what we have today should rightfully be ours, rather than realizing that they are privileges, not rights?
Chances are, very often.
I was just in the gym yesterday and saw a TV commercial for Save the Children. The commercial had a serious voice over appealing to the viewer for donations while showing this emaciated young boy, presumably from Africa, with a bloated belly, a sad face, and flies flying around his body.
The funny thing was that up until that moment, my biggest concern for the day was getting in shape in time for my engagement photoshoots this weekend. While I’m here trying to eat lesser and lose weight, before me is a kid, along with probably millions out there, starving due to extreme poverty conditions in their country.
While I’ve always made it a point to practise gratitude in every waking second of the day, seeing the ad made me realize that, hey, I should be grateful that I get to have first-world problems like losing weight, when people out there are significantly worse off. That while I’m feeling stressed with the need to look good enough for my shoot, I should celebrate the opportunity I have to have an engagement shoot, be overseas here in Glasgow, and to worry about simple problems when others out there are in much dire situations than I am.
As I take stock of the positive things I have in my life, your first task of the 14-day challenge is to list 10 things you are grateful for in your life today. “10” because it’s a nice round number and it’s not too much to ask you to come up with 10 things you are grateful for. (If you can’t, then it’s really time to cultivate the habit of gratitude!)
If you can come up with more than 10, by all means, do so!! The more we celebrate for in our life, the better. As this inspiring quote from Sulthana’s blog reads,
“Gratitude for the abundance you have received is the best insurance that abundance will continue.” ~ Prophet Muhammad
Word!
These 10 things of gratitude can be anything, from the food you get to eat every day, to your relationships, to people you have crossed paths with before, to your teachers and mentors who have guided you on your path, to opportunities you’ve been given, to your successes, to your past failures (because they give you learning lessons), to your upcoming successes (your future is in your hands), to the fact that you are alive.
I saw some beautiful gratitude tags on Flickr yesterday which exemplify the message of today’s task. Check them out:
Aw… =) For those of you with sibling(s), have you ever been grateful for them? (Image)
Are you grateful to be alive? (Image)
Lovely. ♥ (Image)
Some of us may have hated summer camp (I hated it so much that I feigned a cold to skip it!), but perhaps there are things to be grateful about it, such as opportunity to bond with friends, a day of fun and games, a day away from normal studies, etc. Remember, the glass is always full–just how we look at it. ♥ (Image)
(A relevant read: 10 Timeless Principles To Be Happy)
Are you grateful for your health? This person is in treatment for cancer and she is thankful for it. Most of us have good health yet we aren’t even thankful for that. How about giving thanks for what we have vs. focusing on the things we lack? (Image)
The earth. We only have one to live on. Are you grateful for it? (Image)
Your Task: Write 10 Things You Are Grateful For in Your Life
Take out the gratitude journal you created in Day 0 and pen down 10 things you are grateful for in your life.
If you can think of more than 10, you are welcome to write them down!
Feel free to decorate with drawings, images, photographs, etc.
Daily Journaling: Write 3 Things You Are Grateful for Today
On top of today’s task, identify 3 things you are grateful for today. These 3 things can be events that occurred today, mishaps which could have happened but didn’t happen, or simply things which have always been in your life but which you suddenly came to feel grateful for today.
3 things I’m grateful for today:
- The nice umbrella which my fiance Ken bought for our upcoming photoshoot
- To have a fiance who is so understanding, sweet, and patient to hear me sulk and rant for 2 hours (eeps!) for something sweet which he did for me but which I didn’t like (Perhaps a story for another day!)
- The opportunity to be here in Scotland to do my engagement shoots
Share Your Results!
What are 10 things you are grateful for in your life today? What are 3 things you are grateful for today?
You can share in two ways (or combination of the two): (a) type your reflections into the comments box or (b) take a photograph / screenshot of what you have written in your gratitude journal and upload it into the comments box (like you guys did for Day 0’s task).
Anything goes–whatever you guys prefer! :) Look forward to reading your answers! :D
Once you’re done, proceed to Gratitude Challenge Day 2: Give Thanks for Your Food.
Hi Celes,
Here is my journal from Day 1, just part of what I wrote for my 10. I got very wordy on mine just could not put each point in one sentence.
Here are the three things I was grateful for in day 1 as written in my journal.
1. I am grateful I was able to post on my blog today.
2. I am grateful that even though times are hard financially, I have food in my fridge, a roof over my head and a car to drive.
3. I am grateful to be alive and better yet, I am grateful to be alive and hopeful.
Have a great day Celes, and thank you for inspiring us all to become better versions of ourselves. I am thankful for you, your website and this challenge
Hi Celes,
Here is my journal from Day 1, just part of what I wrote for my 10. I got very wordy on mine just could not put each point in one sentence.
Here are the three thing I was grateful for in day 1 as written in my journal.
1. I am grateful I was able to post on my blog today.
2. I am grateful that even though times are hard financially, I have food in my fridge, a roof over my head and a car to drive.
3. I am grateful to be alive and better yet, I am grateful to be alive and hopeful.
Have a great day Celes, and thank you for inspiring us all to become better versions of ourselves. I am thankful for you, your website and this challenge
Better Late Than Never: 10 Things I’m Grateful For http://superwonderwomanruss.blogspot.com/2013/09/10-things-im-grateful-for.html#.UjZ0rD_ucYI
Hello Celes! Good evening from the UK! =)
today is my first day of the gratitude challenge!
I made a list of 10 things that I am grateful for and every second that I wrote them down I felt like I was stepping back into the person who I really am :)
this has been difficult me due to recent events of struggling to sleep, finding it difficult to motivate myself and believe in my intuition and struggling to do the things that I love.
So I feel me seeing this is a great message from the Universe to reconnect and cleanse myself spiritually.
Because of this, just doing something as simple as writing these things down, it feels like this is what I needed! So thank you for this, it’s seriously helping me :)
I’ve made a folder specifically for this challenge and have made separate folders for each day. So so far, there’s day 0 and day 1.
The print screen of the first page of my gratitude diary.
10 things that I am grateful for:
1. I am grateful for overcoming my abuse.
2. I am grateful for encouraging myself to change my life around by becoming a yogi, meditating, learning about myself and becoming a vegetarian.
3. I am grateful for taking the courses in my life that reflect my joys and having the courage to go toward with them despite family criticism.
These are the first three out of my 10 things that I am grateful for, which is very powerful and personal, but at the same time is inspiring.
Three things that I am grateful for today:
1. Waking up.
2. The food that I am blessed to have.
3. Living with warm and understanding individuals.
I’ll let you know about tomorrow’s task.
I have attached a screenshot of my post for Day 1.
When you are realise you are existence itself, and you are life, you can’t help yourself feeling gratitude, regardless of circumstances.
i am grateful because my own existence
I’m so grateful for all the time that I get to spend with my daughters!
I’m so grateful for my brother & sisters ! That we are becoming so close!
I’m so grateful for my Health! Having the energy to work out daily.
I’m so grateful for my true friends that are of tremendous emotional strength & support !
I’m so grateful for the opportunities the are given to me.
I’m so grateful for having the Choice to do what I want in life.
I’m so grateful for my freedom !
I’m so grateful for having the nice “roof” over my head & food in the fridge.
I’m so grateful for the relationships I have with the people I care about.
I’m so grateful to be here ! Have the opportunity to make a positive difference in others’ lives.
I’m so grateful to be motivational & a positive influence in my daughters’ lives.
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