Thankful, Grateful, Blessed

I have a stack of quote cards that I keep in my bathroom.  Each week or so, I move the one on top to the back of the stack and read the next one, trying to keep it in my thoughts throughout the day and coming week.  Right now, the one on top says, "How quick we are to find the rainbow before being thankful for the rain." (Dieter F. Uchtdorf)

So often, we are looking for the rainbow or the light at the end of the tunnel because we just want to get through whatever we are facing and just be done with it so we can move on to other, happier things.  And don't get me wrong.  It's not like I think we should enjoy going through hard things or that we shouldn't feel relieved when they are over.  I like feeling happy and strive for it.

I'll be honest: my life is pretty easy most of the time.  My husband has a job that supports our family, which means I'm able to stay at home with our kids.  We have a full fridge, freezer and cold storage.  My children have clothes to wear and shoes on their feet.  When they grow out of them, I can easily go buy more.  My family is healthy and strong.  My list of troubles is fairly short and for that I am grateful.

But I've been thinking about gratitude a lot lately and how easy it is to forget to show gratitude.  I mean, sure, I regularly say thank you to my family and friends and people who hold the door for me on the way in/out of a store.  I say my prayers and thank God for my home, my family, my husband's job and food on the table.  But what I mean is, it's easy to be thankful when things are easy.  When things are going well.  Nothing major is going on.  Nothing that makes me stop and think about what it is that I have in my life because it's just part of my life, you know?

As we move into the holiday season, I am making a more concentrated effort to look for the things I am thankful for and write them down.  I want to take special note of what I am grateful for in my life.  And by doing these things, I hope to better remember how very blessed I am.  My hope is to establish a habit and attitude of gratitude that carries beyond the holiday season and becomes a deeper part of me.

Here are a few ways I've thought of to help myself.  Maybe one of these will ring true for you as well:

Gratitude Journal:  I have a journal that only has lists of what I'm grateful for in it.  As I look back through it, I can see that I get more specific with what I'm thankful for the most consistently I write things down and it often reflects what was going on in my life at the time.  I have also seen people write down one or two things they are thankful for in their planner, which I think is a neat idea as well.

Thankful Tree:  Last year, we started a Thankful Tree as one of our Thanksgiving traditions.  I made a tree out of brown paper sacks and cut leaves out of construction paper.  Each day, we would write down what we were thankful for and put it on the tree.  By the end of the month, the entire tree was covered by all the things we were thankful for.  Definitely one of my favorite traditions we've started.

Say Thank You (Be Specific):  This suggestion steers away from writing things down, but I think it's equally important to say out loud what we are thankful for and to tell people what about them we are thankful for.  Try thinking of one person each day that you are thankful for and then think of something specific about them that you are thankful for and then tell them!  I'm sure it will make their day.

To help celebrate the season of thankfulness and gratitude, Cents of Style has designed this cute shirt that simply says "thankful, grateful, blessed" on the front.  It is perfect for any time of year, but it's getting quite a bit cooler here in Utah so I'm layering it.  You can get this shirt in 2 colors: gold/white and wine/white.  I had the hardest time deciding which one to get but ultimately chose the darker color.  Another thing I love about this shirt is how long it is!  I am tall (5'9") and sometimes I have a hard time finding shirts that fit my long torso but the size small fit great with a little bit of breathing room.

If you'd like to grab one of these shirts for yourself, Cents of Style is running a promotion from 11/4/16 to 11/6/16 where you can get either shirt (or both!) for FREE with any $25 purchase using the coupon code THANKFUL1.  And, as always, they offer free shipping!

Click HERE to go to their website and see what great stuff you can find.  (And I promise you that finding $25 worth of clothing and/or accessories is not hard.)  Did you see the Remi Swing Dress I wore a couple of weeks ago?  Or the 'uplift' bracelet from their tribe jewelry collection?  The 'Thankful, Grateful, Blessed' shirt normally sells for $29.95 so you could even grab one in one color and then get the other one free with the coupon code.

Before you leave today, share a comment below about something you are thankful for, grateful for, or blessed to have.  I'd love to hear from you!

Have a great weekend!

I received this shirt in exchange for my review and promotion but all thoughts and opinions are 100% mine.

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