just when the caterpillar thought that life was over,
it became
a BUTTERFLY!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

A change in attitude brings about gratitude

I am learning that the more I purposely SEEK to find joy in small things, the more joyful, in general I become.... the more the snowballs of life (because they will happen to all of us and at times it feels like we are in a 20 against one snowball fight) but the more I find joy in small things the more hopeful I am that the big snowballs will melt, or at least not hurt as much when pelted at me....

I know I know sounds *pollyanne-ish* don't it..... well I dare you... dare you to try it... keep a journal, write these things down and just see, if in time, you don't find yourself appreciating the small things even when the big snowballs hit....

it started before I ever read this book and I've started off and on writing things down here or there and I notice a change... a real significant change... it does not mean that those snowballs don't hurt, but it helps me to not always focus on just them....the book I read was One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp...
 
she is a Christian based writer... she had been dealing with the seeing the death of of sister since she was 4 or 5.... then as an adult was giving a cancer diagnosis and a friend challenged her to look for the joy in things, to focus on the joy that surrounds us every day and to make a list of 1000 things... I think her list has grown way past 1000....
 
there is a pretty cool app for iPhone and Droid phones to help you keep track of your own list, which I started this weekend and will continue to add to my list here and on the application..

No comments: