Over on AHolyExperience blog, that I mentioned in my last post, Ann talks about A Thousand Gifts and challenges others to join her in making their own list of 1000 Gifts. She had a statistic quoted that people that keep gratitude journals are 25% happier and have fewer health complaints.
This goes along with one of the "gifts" in the book The Ultimate Gift that I've mentioned before. Here is what I copied from that book on "The Gift of Gratitude".
" . . . When we parted, I asked him why he was always in such good spirits. he told me that one of the great lessons his mother had left him was the legacy of the Golden List.
"He explained to me that every morning before he got up, he would lie in bed—or wherever he had been sleeping—and visualize a golden tablet on which was written ten things in his life he was especially thankful for. He told me that his mother had done that all the days of her life, and that he had never missed a day since she shared the Golden List with him." pg 124
I have heard of many people that write in a "Blessings Journal" or such each night but I think that thinking on these blessings or things for which I am grateful, in the morning, will put me in a more pleasant mood throughout the day.
So, I will start my own list of 1000 Gifts and I will add on as time goes by. Some I may not share, as they may be private but many I will share here. I hope this challenges you to start your own gratitude list.
♥ Jesus (He loves me so much he came, took my poverty, lack, sickness, disease, and sins on Himself, so that I don't have to have any of it and can be with Him forever.)
♥ Family (husband, children, parents, siblings, extended family)
♥ Friends (forever friends, church friends, lifelong friends, homeschooling friends, and internet friends)
♥ The property we live on (9.5 acres way out in the country)
♥ Our home
♥ The new rooms being added onto our home
♥ Vehicles that get us where we need to go without suffocating us in the summer or freezing us out in the winter
♥ The breeze on a beautiful warm day
♥ My computer and internet access
♥ Wonderful giving people on the internet that make homeschooling and learning affordable (in many instances giving things away for free)
Well, I'll stop with that for today. We'll see where this goes. I suspect that I will get a bit more detailed as I go along and those first 10 may turn into 50 or more. :) I have a lot of friends and family to be thankful for.
(Me and my dd, Tiffany on an easy to climb tree limb on vacation in VA in 2007.) These are my ramblings on homeschooling and whatever else comes to mind.
Counting Down
We are starting school, so it's time to look forward to the holidays!
