Week 3 of the Treasure Yourself project was all about gratitude. Appreciating the little things in life, being thankful for all that we have, rather than focusing on what we don’t have.
I have spoken about gratitude on my blog before, and now Kris and I are in a routine that when we get into bed, we ask each other:
‘Have you thought about what you’re grateful for?’ in a sing-song voice that starts off the giggles.
Of course it always turns into a bit of a joke, with Kris, saying every night without fail – “love”! And me trying to encourage him to think of other things that he might also be grateful for. Since I write a list of 3 things each into our gratitude book, Kris will then try to say things in the most long winded way, resulting in even more giggles as I try to abbreviate and summarise things so I don’t have to write an essay. As you can imagine, laughter goes down on my list pretty much every day.
I can get so grumpy sometimes and really not be the most pleasant to live with, but I feel like practicing gratitude reminds me of how fantastic my life is, how privileged I really am and never fails to bring a smile to my face.
If you are already practicing gratitude – there are a few of extra questions that a friend shared with us that can help to take it to the next level.
Ask yourself daily:
What am I happy about right now? What about this makes me happy?
What am I excited about right now? What about this makes me excited?
What am I proud about right now? What about this makes me proud?
What am I grateful about right now? What about this makes me grateful?
I find that answering these questions for myself, or with Kris, takes us down to the really meaningful stuff. Our answers go beyond the superficial when you really think about why you are grateful for that delicious meal/ the time with a friend /a recent event/ an opportunity/ a material possession. When you think about activities that make you excited, happy or proud, you know what you should do more of.
Challenge yourself to go beyond what first comes to your mind and think about the values behind it, as then you will find out what truly is important to you and makes you happy.
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This week the Treasure Yourself project turns the focus onto diet – so we are doing a health kick and quitting sugar! Not just added/refined sugar but following Sarah Wilson’s ‘I quit sugar’ program.
Go over to her blog and have a read if you want to see what it is all about – and I will post more about how it is going and recipe and meal ideas in the coming weeks.
