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A Simple Gratitude List | Gratitude Week 12

Lately, I’ve been feeling lethargic and easily distracted. Was it the thanksgiving food last week? Or the binge eating when we had friends in town?

I’m saying “oh, this is gonna be my lazy day” one too many times this week, and it’s only Wednesday! I guess I also have a lot on my mind, and I can’t seem to focus on any one thing. Every day I’ve been making it a point to write at least five things I’m grateful for. Today, I seem to be drawing a blank when I’m looking down at my gratitude journal. I know I should have things to be thankful for but I’m at a loss for words. All I want to do is lay in bed and finish my book. That’s why I will just keep this post short and simple with a highlight from each day of my gratitude journal this past week:

Going backwards from yesterday, here’s a simple gratitude list…
  1. music – Started putting together a christmas playlist! Music has this incredible ability to lift your mood.
  2. clean bathrooms – Feels so good after Jacob cleaned the toilet, and I cleared out all the junk under the sink.
  3. beautiful sunsets – Went to crystal cove in laguna beach. Gonna miss living so close to the beach.
  4. black friday – We actually went, didn’t have to fight crowds, and got a lot of our christmas shopping done.
  5. heartphilippines and all the people who have so far helped and donated so far.
  6. movies – We watched frozen and hunger games catching fire, and we loved them both!
  7. kickboxing – I went for the first time last week, and it was really fun. I got out a lot of my angry energy. ;)

My favorite gratitude quote of the week by Thornton Wilder coupled with one of my instagram photos from crystal cove:

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. What i'm thankful for this week. gratitude quotes by Thornton Wilder. attitude of gratitude. quotes on gratitude by wilder thornton. gratitude list gratitude list. Pin

I joked that on Thanksgiving I was going to be ungrateful since I had been practicing gratitude for several weeks on my blog, but I really have been feeling crabby and ungrateful ever since Thanksgiving. Maybe longer. I have been writing my gratitude list in my journal, but my heart hasn’t been in it. If the above quote is true, I don’t feel as alive as I would like. What do you do on days you feel stuck and ungrateful?

This is week 12 of practicing gratitude. I’m hoping to keep these gratitude Wednesdays going for as long as I can. I want it to be an essential part of my blog journey and sharing my process of growing into a kind, grateful, and generous person one day. One fine freakin’ day. You can see my other posts if you click on the banner below:

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This Post Has 7 Comments

  1. toni d.

    Aww sorry to hear you’ve been feeling crabby :( umm… time of month? =/ That definitely happens to me, or at least just before.

    I was starting to get a little stuck on my gratitude list too. The Happiness journal I’ve been working on has asked me to write down 3 things I’m grateful for each day, for an entire month. I’ve got to do mine until the 25th, and yesterday was the first time I got a little stuck. I got there in the end, but it took a while.

    Is it terrible that I only feel grateful when I remember the terrible things that have happened to people that didn’t affect me? I feel slightly awful, but at the same time, even more blessed. Hmm. Catch 22 there.

    1. esther julee

      Or maybe just that time of year. I don’t have the best of sleeping schedules, so I barely see day light anymore. I have a feeling that’s one factor.

      Even though there is always something to be thankful for.. the gratitude journal is not as easy as it seems. Also, I don’t want to say.. I’m thankful for the roof over my head everyday.. and if I’m being honest, I don’t feel thankful about it everyday.

      Kind of is awful how selfish I think. It takes work to think outside of yourself.. bc it sure as hell does not come naturally to me.

      1. toni d.

        Hmm yeah maybe your sleep sched has something to do with it. Are you going to try getting more regular hours? You should’ve seen me this morning at work training. I think I would have scared a grizzly bear with how grumpy I was from lack of sleep. I had to stay overnight at a marae again and had such terrible sleep. Though I haven’t helped my situation by napping at 5pm and I’ve just had 2 large coffees… and it’s 10:30pm. :P I’m a nap fiend, and it totally wrecks my sleep patterns.

        Maybe take a break from the gratitude journal? 3 straight months is kinda huge. Just a thought :)

        1. esther julee

          Not sure. I’ve definitely attempted to change it multiple times over the course of my life.. and I’ve failed every time. I think I’m coming to accept that it’s just part of me. haha I get so grumpy too in the mornings or when I’m hungry. I should avoid people at those times.

          I’ve never taken naps because I’ve never been good at them. :P if i “nap” i’lll end up sleeping for 5+ hours.. so by that point, I need to consider that my sleeping time and stay awake for the rest of the day.. whatever hours they may be.

          I am definitely taking a few days off right now.. :) although very guiltily.

          1. toni d.

            Aww don’t feel guilty.

            You might feel grateful that you took a break from your daily gratitude journal :P

            I hope you get out of that rut. *hug*

  2. Erika

    I read a quote somewhere that said the moment we question if we are happy, we cease to actually be in it. I could be totally warping it but it kind of makes me think of gratitude. I, like you, can get really crabby and grumpy about it and almost force myself to do it. But maybe things like gratitude journaling, when they are ineffective, don’t necessarily signal that we’re ungrateful but just that we don’t like forcing ourselves to be grateful in that way at that moment?

    I’m not sure. I’m still trying to figure out gratitude, too. But sometimes I know that I get the things I want most and feel the way I am longing to feel when I back off of it and let it go a little. I think I can sometimes force myself to be grateful and it works sometimes, but I like gratitude the most when it’s unprompted in myself… when I just get hit with it or feel it. But I can’t determine yet if that’s a result of all of the gratitude work I’ve been trying to do over the past few months and I think it is. Sigh. I don’t know.

    Well, either way, kudos for keeping it up! I like reading your weekly insights on gratitude!

    1. esther julee

      haha you do know me well. yeah that happens to be true for me. i hate rules.. and when i make rules for myself, i do at times feel trapped by them. i guess it’s a balance of putting the work in, but then also at times letting go and not being so strict with yourself. i haven’t quite figured out how to find the balance here or many areas of my life just bc i happen to be on one extreme or the other, hot or cold. it’s just all a work in progress. i guess i should just give it a try and have days where i don’t have to journal. i might first try to switch up my schedule and do them in the mornings instead of night to see if that makes any difference too.

      thanks for reading! :)

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