3 Ways to Foster a Habit of Gratitude

I love my church. I don't talk about my faith much on this blog just because I generally view religion as a private thing (but not a secret!). I go to a very small (think 50 people) Lutheran church twice a week, once for a service and brunch and once for community with other college students. If you're not familiar with churches, specifically Christian churches, the reverend or pastor will give a short message (at my church, it's about 15-20 minutes) using verses from the Bible. Sometimes, it's theological teaching, but other times it's simply practical tips on living better. Last week, in preparation for Thanksgiving, our priest talked about three habits you can make to practice gratitude and, as he said, change your life. 

And so, very quickly, since I want to get back to my family (and hello, the food!), I wanted to share these three practices with you.

Testimony of thankfulness // Testimony is sort of a church word (or an infomercial word!) but it really just means a story of how someone has affected you. I challenge you to write a short testimony (but at least a paragraph or two) about someone who has positively affected you in your life. Then, (this is the tough part) you have to call up that person, meet with them in person if possible and read it to them.

Blessing Bowl // Find a spot on your desk or bathroom counter and place a bowl/bottle/jar and blank slips of paper. Every time you pass by the bowl, you must write down something you're thankful for and place the slip in the jar. 

Use a gratitude app // There's a huge variety of options out there, but my favorite so far is called Day One. Or, you can be a little more minimalist and either keep an ongoing list in your notes app of your phone. Finally, if you like pen and paper (like me!), you can set an alarm each day and write in a gratitude journal. Sometimes I also just journal right when I get up or before I go to bed.

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!! Have a wonderful day with your family and don't be in too big of a rush for it to be over so Black Friday can be here! :)

How do you stay thankful? 

Catching Up (+ Grateful Heart #3)

(Death to the Stock Photo)

Oh man guys. Classes are kicking my butt. Not just classes, but just the sheer options of things to do that take up my time. I've joined a gymnastics team, been going to mass, joined a Bible study small group, and have been working out all the time. I even tried out playing racquetball with some friends the other day! 

I've had so much fun with lots of new activities, but naturally, life on campus is a totally different ball game when it comes to time management. So this is my official word to you that I'm not going anywhere, but if I miss a post here and there and am quiet on social media for the next few weeks, know that I'm just learning how to plan out my time (so that I don't have pages of calculus to do an hour before it's due). 

So today, just to get back into the swing of things, I'm recapping a couple things that I'm grateful for. I've actually had a sort of stressful/funky day between an exhausting social event, a lot of school work and not feeling too great. But that's all the more reason to focus on the things that I'm grateful for!

+ A thriving community of active people. I didn't realize until I got here that my school is a campus of people that just love to be busy. People are always planning events and get togethers and adventures and there are always things to do (and if not...I've still got more calculus to do). 

+ I can tell I've really been growing in a positive way, away from anxiety. School has pulled me out of my comfort zone in a lot of ways. I moved to a new state, by myself, where I knew not a single person. It's been hard, but I've done it and I'm proud of myself. 

+ A whole host of things that have gone right when they good have gone wrong. All of my classes (except one required class) are really good. I love three out of my four professors (and the other one is still just fine). My roommate and I get along great. I'm finding a community within my Bible study group and the church that I've been going to.

That last one is what gets me. Even when I have a stressful night like tonight, it calms me down to remember that in the grand scheme of things, my life could be so much harder. 

And on that note, I'm going to get back to calculus. What are you grateful for this week?

Grateful Heart #2

(Unsplash)

As a pessimist by nature, gratitude is often the last thing I want to do. These days, I can choose to let myself be consumed by anxiety about my future (starting college next week!!) or I can recognize all the opportunities and fun that this time in my life provides. Usually, I'd totally choose the first option, but why not, just once, choose the second? Right now, I'm grateful that...

+ I got to see H this morning, for the first time in over a month. We've gone (and will go!) a lot longer without seeing each other, but it was still so nice to be together. We made breakfast together--pancakes and bacon--and just spent time together. 

+ I also spent time with my best friend today, which was so nice. I love all of the girls I hang out with in the summer but because I only see them two months out of the year, we just aren't as close. But this girl + I can chat about literally anything, even though we haven't talked much over the last few months. We have good feel talks.

+ I'm wrapping up a design that I'm really happy with. This gal is bold and fun and I feel like I'm making her design reflect that. I'm so excited to share it with you in the next few weeks!

+ Starting school means so many exciting opportunities--including a chance to grow. I struggle with anxiety, especially in places where I don't know people. But I've learned that I can prevent a lot (but not all) of my anxiety just with my attitude. I know it'll be hard to make new friends + settle in a new place. But it's so going to be worth it + I know I can do it.

What are you grateful for this week?

Grateful Heart

(photo by Death to the Stock Photo)

Today in my editorial calendar, I had planned to write a post to go with the Grateful Heart linkup on Ember Grey. It's a linkup where anyone can share posts that share their gratitude at the current moment. So that was my plan. And then a monster sinus infection invaded my life. I spent my night cradled a roll of toilet paper and blowing my nose every five minutes while taking NyQuil religiously every four hours to no avail. Last night sucked.

And so I wasn't feeling like blogging much at all, especially a gratitude post. But you know what? I'm up for a challenge. 

Things I'm Grateful For

The inspiration I receive from the blogging community. I really, really love looking through my Bloglovin' feed these days and just admiring all the wonderful thought that goes into the posts. There are so many beautiful + well written blogs out there and I'm glad that I've been able to discover them!

A flexible boss. I already talked to her today about work tonight and she was totally nice about it--telling me just to do what I can and not to stress out about it.

Khan Academy. Okay, sounds silly, I know. I needed to refresh on my calculus II material since I'm going into calc II or III this fall but haven't taken a calculus class in like three years. I thought I was going to have to pay for a refresher course, but I've found that I can take a quasi-course for free online! Yay!

MY LEFT NOSTRIL JUST CLEARED. I'm not even kidding, this is the best thing to happen to me all day. You never really appreciate breathing out of your nose until you can't.

Alright, that may be all I can manage right now. But still! Even that little list cheered me up a little. 

What are you grateful for?

10 Prompts for Gratitude Journaling

Over the last couple months (though I'm totally not a huge 'journaler'), I've gotten into an oh-so-fulfilling habit of gratitude journaling. If you've never taken time to keep a gratitude journal, it's exactly what it sounds like--journaling about things you feel grateful for. The first few times I g-journaled (hah "g-journal"...sounds totally street, right?), I literally just made a list of things I was grateful for, kindergartener-at-thanksgiving style. And it got boring. I mean, how fulfilling is it really to write out that I'm thankful for my friends and family (duh)?

It was just not the way to do it. Since then, I've come up with more thorough, more specific, more creative prompts that I use when I g-journal. Varying what I write about + learning to write more precisely has done wonders for the practice. I love going back and reading my favorite bits of my days from months ago! Because I want to share that lovely-happy-fuzzy feeling, here are ten of my favorite prompts for gratitude journaling.

1. Take a walk outside for ten minutes of so. Just walk to the end of your street and back. Take in the beauty around you + appreciate the feeling of being outside, from nature to the fresh air you're breathing. Take note of three beautiful things you noticed. When you get home, journal about those things, why you appreciate them + how they made you feel.

2. At the end of the day, review your day + what you did. Think of at least two or three things that you did today that you're proud of--even if it's small. Did you ace that research paper? Or did you exercise even though you didn't want to? Write that down, as well as why it happened. This can help remind you what behaviors make you feel good + encourage you to do those more often!

3. Write a thank you note to someone--no one said gratitude was meant to stay private! Be thorough + specific, reminding that person of how much you need + appreciate them in your life. Bonus points if it's for someone unexpected, like a cafeteria server or assistant. Now go deliver that little envelope of love!

4. Take stock of all the various spheres of your life + spend a day being grateful for them. Take one day to be thankful for...your school/work, your family, your friends, your home, your lifestyle, your own body (yes!) or things that you read or heard during the day. As always, get specific! What do your friends do exactly that makes you so grateful? Is it that they are always happy to eat ice cream with you late at night after a bad day? Or they always make you laugh? 

5. Think of some of your favorite memories with friends, with family, as a child, or while traveling. Write down as much as you remember about that time, down to the thoughts in your head and the sights and smells around you.

6. If you've had a bad day, take time to nurture ideas about how you can turn the bad things into good things. If you got in a fight with your best friend for example, reflect on it + yourself, looking to see if you can apologize for something or communicate your feelings more calmly and clearly. 

7. Pick one person, just one person, that you're thankful for. The person who helped you out on that big project? The stranger who smiled at your in the grocery store when you looked upset? Someone who chose to celebrate with you? If you can't write them a thank you note, write a thank you note to God/the world/their momma for putting them into your life today.

8. Draw a picture of something that made you happy today, whatever that may be. When you're done, write a little blurb about the emotions that the picture could not express.

9. Write about your greatest achievements in your life. Then write about your smallest, but most cherished achievements.

10. This one's less a prompt but more something not to write about. Be careful not to write about something because you think you should be grateful for it. Some days, you may be grateful for your family. Some days, you may not be. That's okay. Embrace the things you're grateful for, not the things you think you should be grateful for.

I hope you put time into this awesome practice! I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments--how do you write in your gratitude journal?

Weekly Wishes #14: positivity + giraffes + sisters

Today, I’m linking up with The Nectar Collective for Weekly Wishes.  The Weekly Wishes is where we all can share our posts about goals, challenges, and wishes for the week! 


Last week, I wished to work on exercising more and make good progress on my big project with Aukele. Kele and I hit a setback on our project but we're still trucking and I'm so excited to share it with you all very soon! Get excited!! However...exercising...I have had the weirdest/most annoying bout of the flu since Monday night (still have it!) and that kind of puts exercise in its place. But I'm putting it back on the list again for this week!

I'm buried under makeup work but I've got a new week ahead of me! Here are my weekly wishes for this coming week:

Exercise! Just...yes. This needs to happen.

Do my makeup work, promptly. I’ve got soo much makeup work to do because I missed all of my classes last week. I really need to carve out time to get back on track!

Schedule blog posts for next week! Exciting thing--I'm going to the mountains next Sunday through Wednesday. But don't worry, I totally will have fun things ready for you! Side note, if you're interested in guest posting, shoot me an email or tweet at me!

Choose positivity. Whoa Allie, four goals?! You're crazy. Anyways, this is a new one for me. I'm a bit of a pessimist to be honest, but I just want to take time in the midst of the stress this week to be happy. Any tips?!

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One way to choose positivity--linking up with Erika for Grad-itude again! Grad-itude is a link up about being grateful! I loved looking through everyone else’s happy thoughts last week so I’m in it again. Here are three things I’m grateful for right now.

My health. I'm still under the weather right now but it first off makes me thankful that I'm not sick all the time! Like, I never appreciate being able to keep food down or breathe through my nose until I can't anymore. Secondly, my flu is so not a big deal compared to how sick some others are. I got a good life.

My sister! This weekend I visited my sister at school and we hung out all weekend. My sister and I are polar opposites, but I'm appreciating that more as an okay thing the older we get. Love my sis!

Good music. So in the middle of all my crazy makeup work and travels and busyness, I listened to some really great music this weekend. I had my Pandora set between Jim Croce, Avett Bros and Barcelona and it was just awesome. No thumbs down over here!

Now head on over to The Nectar Collective & Chimerikal and join the link-ups.

What do you wish for this week? What are you grateful for?