I was starting to get worried that the end of the year was approaching, and I hadn’t shifted all that much on this year’s theme of “Gratitude.” Thanksgiving would fall flat again this year. Sure, I’d thought about gratitude as a concept a lot, felt little glimmers here and there, but ultimately, I still felt like my life was full of unending to-do lists and piles of laundry.
But recently, I started reading this book that’s taken my gratitude practice to a new level. It’s called Wake Up Grateful. The author Kristi Nelson repeatedly reminds us that, in any moment, there are countless things for which to be grateful: You are alive. Your lungs work. Your heart is beating. You can see, hear, smell. None of these things are guaranteed, and they will not be true forever.
Had it not been for all my other attempts to cultivate gratitude this year, I might have rolled my eyes at such a claim and said, “That’s nice, but I have things to do.” But, those little glimmers from earlier in the year made me want to try this practice.
So, for the past couple weeks, at any random moment of the day, I take about 15 seconds to list as many things as I can think of to be grateful for that are happening right now:
I’m in a warm building. I’m healthy. I have a loving partner and child. My parents are still alive. There is a tree with bright red leaves outside the window. I have a kitchen full of snacks. There’s a mug of hot tea within reach. I can get up and move around, without pain, whenever I want to. I can write these very words, and you, miles away, can read them.
Without fail, by the end of this list, my chest swells with a tender feeling that life really is remarkable. And the more I do this practice, the more I realize that, yes, in fact, there is always a much longer list, (even if I don’t always notice it).
Knowing that the list of blessings is always long feels a bit like a safety blanket, a soft cushion I can always rest on when I need to, and it’s given me a more pervasive sense of wellbeing.
Turns out, maybe all that work I’ve done all year is paying off.
So, I offer this practice to you, and I invite you to share. We’re just over halfway through our 100 Days of Magic in the Mother Den community, in which we are listing 3 things for which we’re grateful everyday until the end of 2022. Come join us! It’s free!
Danielle LaSusa Ph.D. is a Philosophical Coach, helping new moms grapple with what it means to make a person. She is the creator of The Meaning of Motherhood course, and co-creator and co-host of Think Hard podcast, which brings fun, accessible, philosophical thinking to the real world. To join her mailing list, subscribe here.
© Copyright Danielle LaSusa PhD, LCC, 2021. All rights reserved.
