Gratitude Journal - guest post

Friend-of-the-blog Amy likes the Gratitude Journal and blogs at Delightful Children's Books. Amy writes, "My morning run plus thinking of what I'm thankful for made for a lovely start to my day." Here is what Amy is thankful for:

• The choice of whether to work or stay home.
• My morning run w- friends.
• My morning coffee. (drinking right now)
• Ian's growing!
• Great conversations with my 6 year old.
• My kids curiosity rubbing off on me.

Thanks again for the reminder of all I am thankful for!

And I am grateful that my reflections on gratitude have rubbed off on Amy.

Gratitude Journal - choosing cheerfulness

I haven't posted to the Gratitude Journal lately, though I have plenty to be grateful for. More gratfulness coming soon, I promise. Send me a note with the things you are grateful for, and I will post them on the site.

In the meantime, author Charlie Stross offers some reasons to be cheerful: less disease, poverty, and warfare and more technology with this caveat:

I'm sorry to note that most of the good stuff didn't happen to those of us in the developed world — but the human world is indisputably in better shape overall in 2010 than it was in 2000. And what makes my neighbour happier without damaging me makes my world a better place.

Gratitude Journal.

I'm keeping a Gratitude Journal. Learn more about it.

• Below freezing weather bringing favorable conditions for building a backyard ice rink. Hoping to get it full before the big snowstorm this week.
• The Lorchcast. ("You gotta get a body on Merve!")
• Seeing a growing pile of presents under the tree.
• How picking up scattered items and vacuuming makes the house look clean and tidy.
• Another Blue Jackets victory.
• Forgiveness and understanding.
• Coffee I.O.Us.
• Recognizing that it's time to move on.
• Slane's neeEEeeds. She is so earnest and emphatic.

Gratitude Journal.

I'm keeping a Gratitude Journal. Learn more here. What I am grateful for today:

• Looking around the house and saying to myself, "Wow, there's some cleaning to do," but deciding that spending time with family is more important. And cleaning a little, anyways.
• Forgiveness.
• Recognizing strengths and weaknesses in myself.
• Ice scrapers.
• The person who shoveled our sidewalk.
• Coffee and donuts.
• Streaming video.
• Goodnight Moon. 
• Vince Guaraldi's "Christmas Time Is Here" from A Charlie Brown Christmas. 
• My parents' 40th anniversary, coming soon.

These posts are also appearing as notes in Facebook and friends are commenting. Thanks for the comments! Please continue to comment and use the posts to share what you are grateful for. (Yes, I know that sentence ends with a preposition, but I'll leave it like it is.)

Gratitude Journal.

I'm keeping a Gratitude Journal. Read the backstory here. Things I'm grateful for today:

• Music. 
• Snow boots.
• Our daughter, her endless curiosity, and her ability to stay warm without a coat.
• Just enough snow.
• Coffee.
• Patience as we re-write the Christmas letter for the fourth time.
• "Silent Night." Such a simple song, yet so rich with meaning.

Gratitude Journal

Things I am grateful for:

• Building a habit. (This is the third post!)
• The generosity of strangers and exceptional customer service. We went to pick up a rotisserie chicken last night from Hy-Vee. They were out, so the attendant at the deli counter called Wal-Mart and Fareway to see if they had rotisserie chicken. When they didn't, she boxed up a chicken's worth of herb roasted chicken for me. It was a god-send on a Tuesday night coming back from a four-day trip.
• Talking through tough decisions, thoughtfully.
• Candid conversations. Venting without being toxic.
• Cookies and milk.
• A good pillow. My pillow.
• Hugs.

Gratitude Journal.

I'm building a habit of keeping a gratitude journal. Here's what I am grateful for today:

• Conferences. Exchanging ideas and networking with colleagues can be a rejuvenating experience.
• A great co-presenter. We took time to prepare what we'd say and how we'd say it.
• A wonderful audience who attended our presentation. They came with great questions and responded warmly to our content and our call to action to collaborate in small groups.
• A roof over my head and a warm bed to come home to. Wow, it's cold out there.
• Arrogant Bastard. It's a tasty beer.
• Facing tough questions and being honest that I don't have answers for them - yet.