It’s been a good summer and I’ve been on a break from writing. During that time, I’ve been doing a fair amount of thinking and reading lately about gratitude and what it can do for your brain. In Girl, Wash Your Face– the point is made that I’m the only one responsible for my happiness, which is a very valid concept. Do bad things happen sometimes? Absolutely. I can’t change that. What I can change is my reaction (or anticipation) of them. I’m working to choose grateful, happy, and fulfilled every day (PS- I’m not doing a very good job with this today).

Do I achieve this all the time? Not a chance…not even close! I AM getting a little better most days (I’m aiming for 1% better) and eventually I hope that I will get to where I want to go. If not, I’ll know that I’m better than I started out.

In the Calm Gratitude Masterclass, Tamara challenges you to journal with 10 items a day that you’re grateful for. Apparently having to come up with a high number (ten often still seems a little overwhelming to me) is instrumental in that retraining process. In lieu of having random post-its all over, I combined my personal self with my work self and created a Google Form that captures my ‘gratefuls’. I’ve had a few friends ask to see the form and I wanted to share it so they can create their own. Here’s a preview:

If you want one of your own, you’re welcome to make a copy of mine. To create a copy, login to your gmail account and then click this link (it will force you to make a copy of the form.

I might write more about my gratitude journey at some point, or not. Either way, know that I’m working on making it a bigger part of who I am.

The Calm Gratitude Masterclass has some good resources- I’ve linked them here. If you want a free premium trial of Calm (I fall asleep to it every night), reach out to me!