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November is right around the corner. It’s been an especially full season for our family, but somehow we’ve gotten in our visit to an orchard, carved our giant pumpkins, and ate those crunchy caramel apples.
Practicing gratitude
Practicing gratitude is an often-talked-about strategy for reducing stress and anxiety. Naming things we are truly thankful for can have a profound effect on our outlook on life. I believe that pausing to recognize the little and large gifts in our everyday life can slow us down just enough to breathe a little deeper. Gratitude allows us to offer our thankfulness back to our Creator.
Early on in our family we started a tradition where each November, we set out the same journal and we list out the things we are grateful for as the month goes on.
There is something about pausing in the fall to do this, that sets us up for the coming season with hearts that are already full and not wanting to be filled with material things as the holidays unfold.
And it is just SO fun to look back on our lists from previous years.
The journal is already worn and covered in toddler scribbles, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Maybe you’ve tried a gratitude journal before and tired of it. Gratitude is a habit to practice daily, but once you’ve formed the habit, it’s okay if you aren’t literally writing a list every day. Taking a month out of each year to practice the habit by writing things down helps us keep our grateful muscles strong and creates a sweet keepsake that chronicles the life of a family.
Ready to give it a try?