Have you ever gotten stuck in a slump, where it seems so easy to start dwelling on the hard things? This is me lately. Actually, this is me every August when I go back to work after 6-8 weeks of being home with my kids. I know that, as a teacher, I am beyond lucky to even have that time with my family. But when it’s over, I still feel bummed at returning to the stressful working mom routine.
Emily, Madeline, and Johnny came in to “help” me set up my classroom 🙂
I decided I didn’t want that heaviness weighing on my heart anymore. So today I just sat down and started listing all the things I’m thankful for. From the mundane to the grand, I write down every nice thing I’ve got going for me.
-I actually HAVE a job
-I was born in the USA
-My family is healthy
-My husband is thoughtful and loves me and our children
-I have a safe place to live
-My husband can go to college
-Both my parents are still living
-We have our own cars (ok, one is missing a front bumper and the other is 20 years old but hey, let’s not go there, right? 😉
-I belong to a wonderful online community (that’s you!)
-I have friends who love and support me
I could go on forever!
My oldest is such a good sport when I *need* a Snapchat selfie!
This is a habit I’m going to start doing on a regular basis. I’ll call it a thankfulness journal. Instead of taking all life’s little blessings for granted, I’ll write them down. Then it’s so much easier to focus on the good instead of the yucky stuff.
The thing that makes a thankfulness journal work is not to argue with yourself. See what I did there, with the thing about the cars? When I make excuses for why that nice thing isn’t so nice after all, I’m really saying I shouldn’t be thankful for it. When really, I am filled with joy every time my car makes it the 33 miles to my work because that’s just one more day we don’t have a car payment!
Let me know in the comments if you found this helpful, or if you want to join me in writing a thankfulness journal.
