It’s been almost two years since I decided to take a leap and start this blog. I knew nothing about blogging when I first started. What I did know was that I loved writing and felt I wanted to reach out to people and tell my story. It hasn’t been easy to put myself out there and be vulnerable. But one thing that has made it all worth it has been the outpouring of love and support from my family, friends, fellow bloggers and even complete strangers.
Let’s face it – we are all in this life together. We struggle, we fall, we gain the courage to get back up again and we LEARN from it. That is the one clear message I always want to encourage on my blog. We are always growing and learning, no matter what stage of life we are in.
The thing about falling is it doesn’t just happen once in life. It continuously happens. There will always be things in life that are hard to deal with, things that don’t go how we had hoped, things that we didn’t plan for……
I’m going to be honest. I have been in a rut lately. I am going through the motions of every day life, but still searching for my inner happiness. A happiness that I know only I can find within myself. If you are familiar with my blog, you know I have struggled through a separation and divorce. I am a single mom to my two boys, which always has its challenges. I have dealt with anxiety for most of my life.
This past Fall, both of my boys started school full time, so I am trying to focus on my passions and see where where a job opportunity lies. I’m sure other stay at home moms can relate that it is intimidating to get back into the work force after years of focusing on and building your family life at home!
I don’t mean for this to be some sort of a “let’s sit and have a pity party for me” post. I realize that even on my worst days, there are still people going through harder things than I am.
But in my life right now, these things have been weighing on me heavily. And due to this, I have been trying to figure out how I can incorporate more positivity into my life. Sure, negative things happen a lot; they happen around me every day. But I believe it’s the way we deal with situations in our mind that determines our reactions and in turn, how it makes our bodies feel.
I have read a lot of articles and some books about being grateful and the positive impact that gratitude plays in our life. There are actually scientifically proven benefits of practicing gratitude.
Some of them are:
-Reduced depression and increased happiness
-Reduced aggression and increased empathy toward others
-Improved self-esteem
-Helps you sleep better and longer
-Increased mental strength (being grateful even during the toughest times)
Friends, I’m not sure about you, but I can definitely benefit from everything mentioned above!
Personally, I find that my anxiety is the worst first thing in the morning and right before bedtime. Right before bed is when I want to feel calm and relaxed, NOT have my heart pounding and my brain thinking of the million things I didn’t get done that day (or need to do the next day!).
Studies have found that spending a few minutes at the end of the day to summarize how your day went and to be appreciative for it releases chemicals into the body which help to calm and soothe the mind, inducing a peaceful more-gentle sleep.
I’ll admit that I was a little skeptical at first. I already know that I am grateful for a lot of things in my life. How could writing them down potentially give me all of these health benefits that I read about?
What better way to find out than to try it for myself!
For 30 days before I went to bed, I wrote down something that I was grateful for in my life. I also did a few sentences of journaling about my day. This wasn’t anything that I spent a lot of time on. But I consciously set aside a few minutes every night to do this.
Not every day is good, but there are still good things that happen every day. I thought it would be difficult to come up with something I was grateful for every day. Some days it definitely was! But on those days, it required me to think a little deeper. Let me tell you, I learned a lot about myself by digging a little deeper!
The results?? Practicing gratitude has definitely made a positive difference in my life! It wasn’t something that happened overnight. But the more days I continued to focus on the positive things in my life, I began to realize that I am rich beyond words. Rich with things that money can’t buy.
By taking time to focus on the positive aspects of my day and NOT dwell on the negatives, I have been more calm at night and better able to fall (and stay!) asleep.
I started handling negative situations differently. My mind is clearer and I am more likely to focus on a quick, easy solution instead of dwell on how awful whatever it was that just happened.
I have more patience and am more present with my kids. I try to let little things go (pick your battles!) and am able to embrace the “chaos” of boy mom life much better!
There is also something great that happens when you journal your thoughts. Once the thoughts are on paper, they don’t weigh as heavily on your mind and you can release any pent up feelings and everyday stress. No one else needs to read your thoughts — write away! Get it all out! Trust me, it helps 🙂
Since I have personally felt the benefits of practicing gratitude, I decided to come up with 30 days of FREE printables for you to try and see the positive difference for yourself! Each day has a few different questions, a place to journal your thoughts and a picture to color (admit it, adult coloring is fun 😉 )
Trust me when I tell you that this has benefited my life in great ways and I look forward to hearing how it works for you!
Simply scroll to the bottom of this page and sign up to get access to your FREE printables, 30 days of Relax and Be Grateful.
P.S. – If you haven’t noticed by my quotes, I love Brene Brown! I read her quotes whenever I need a dose of inspiration. Her books are amazing and I would recommend them to anyone. Click on the books below to order and see for yourself 😉
