gratitude

We all know that gratitude is beneficial, we’ve heard it a million times, but when we think about a gratitude practice, we don’t often think about appreciating the little everyday things that make life great.

There’s also a shame and guilt narrative that persists where we need to be thankful for things because others don’t have what we have. I think that is just comparative and awful.

So how do we practice gratitude in a way that enhances our life?

In college, I stumbled across one woman’s gratitude project, 365 grateful, which helped her begin to notice the good in her life. She inspired me to start my own; I hope I can inspire you.

Every day, for an entire year, 365 days, I took a picture of something that brought me joy. I posted all of these photos to a private and separate Instagram, just for me, and wrote a couple of sentences.

I did my best to take a picture every day, especially if I didn’t have the energy to post it, so I could still capture a moment. Later, when I had time, I would reflect on why I took that picture and then post it to my account.

In this way, I got a lot better at photography, had a catalog of an entire year, and started to notice the little things.

I started to pay attention to things that brought me joy, to everything that supported me, to all the parts of my life that I was thankful for. I began to notice the way the sunshine sifted through the leaves, to strangers who smiled on the sidewalk, to the way my pillow felt after a long day, and to the friendships that supported me.

There was something I was grateful for every single day, even if it was just for the shit days that helped me know how the good ones felt. When I had those really bad days, I also had a photo album to look at of all the beautiful parts of my life, and scrolling through all those moments reminded me that tomorrow would be better.

Our society does a good job of recognizing societally accepted life milestones: we have celebrations for weddings, babies, and buying a house, but we are awful at living in the moment, of seeing the little victories.

How would your life change if you started to notice the little things?

How could your appreciation for the life you already have, affect your ability to reach for the kind of life you want? Maybe, just maybe, in seeing the abundance already around you, you would cultivate more.

What if, in noticing the things you love about you and in your life, you started to experience a happiness you never thought possible?

What if you could change your perspective?

I dare you to try.