Habit of Gratitude - Episode 9
Well, here we are at the end of October (I am actually recording this on October 28th). Now, given that it is 2020 and we are ending the month where Halloween falls on a Saturday night with a full moon, there is a hurricane on one side of the country, fires on the other side and here in the desert we had 2 nights of hard freeze warnings this week – perhaps we will go to sleep on the 31st and wake up only to find it is the 32nd of October! I kid, I kid…I hope!
Nevertheless, we are days away from November. The month when the leaves really change color and the trees begin to head into the winter’s rest time. Of course, here the cactus keep their needles and we have the brown fall color all year long! November is also the month that seems to have been deemed the month to post what you are grateful for each day of the month. Now, while I certainly have posted a gratitude post every day of every November since MySpace was a thing, the last 5 years have taught me what it means to not just BE grateful every single day, but to somehow express that gratitude. I wanted to spend a very little bit of time on this episode talking about creative ways to bless, and therefore be blessed, and share the thankfulness for all the riches we have been abundantly given.
I am working on a blog post about gratitude and thankfulness in light of one of my favorite hymns (Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus), but I want to start this episode with the ways that I personally express my gratitude to God every day. I will be honest; I think that expressing our gratitude is a spiritual discipline. It is, at the very least, a habit that we must develop. I had to figure out some ‘hacks’ so to speak, so that I would remember what I so very much wanted to express each day and night. First thing first – we all (or at least the majority of us) should have cell phones with a handy little alarm feature (our phone calendars even have that feature for a reminder). And if you are lucky enough to sport a smartwatch, you can have your wrist vibrate with endless reminders. I have taken advantage of these feature in the last few years – in a good way. Every morning I set a reminder (or alarm if you will) to go off that says “Thank God for your breath”. I try to have that happen before I get out of bed…but we rise very early in this house, so sometimes it goes off while I’m having coffee. And that’s ok. I have had it set for long enough that I’m in the habit of giving thanks as soon as The Rocket Scientist kisses me goodbye (at 5am) and before our black lab, Asher, begins to whine to be let out of his crate. What I have found, is that I spend more time thanking him for more than just my breath. I set my day with thankfulness. Now, don’t get me wrong…more days than not I will soon forget the gratitude I just lifted as I am swept into the craziness of the day – but I know that lifting those thankful words and praise filled whispers first thing, it slows me before I get caught up. I am thankful indeed.
I end my days with something a little more physical. Again, with another alarm, this time it says, “Write it down.” Yep, I actually use that little “notes” app thingy that came on my phone to write 1 lesson from the day that I am thankful for and 1 person that I’m thankful for. Again, full disclosure, of late this one lesson has been what God is showing me about myself – the way I react, respond, shut down or move forward. Being thankful doesn’t always mean you are thankful about the feel good stuff. Sometimes it is the stuff that doesn’t feel so great that I am the most thankful for. What I have really noticed is, even on the days that have been the most stress-filled, writing down my gratitude helps my body to literally unclench the stress.
Again, I fail on these things often – but I set the alarms because it is a habit and I want these habits. They say it takes 21 times of doing a task before it becomes a habit. So, what better way than to start a new Habit of Gratitude than to use the month of November and set some daily alarms. Whatever works for you, I encourage you to do something that will remind you of all that you have been blessed with (not just the stuff you can see).
Ok, that is the personal gratitude. Now let’s talk about some creative ways to tangibly express your gratitude through blessing others. This is simply some ideas off the top of my head. Many I have done, some I will be doing this year….again, I will set some calendar reminders so that I don’t get to the end of the season and say ‘oh yeah, I was going to do that!’
Make treats for the neighbors. It doesn’t have to be all of them, pick one neighbor a week, or every other week, and make a nice plate of goodies (maybe just the dessert that you make for your family that night). If you don’t know your neighbors, what a great way to start those conversations. Grab a pack of inexpensive, large fall paper plates and deliver those treats! (hey, Target Dollar Spot even had some nice plates for Thanksgiving that would be cute).
Have you ever been ‘Boo’d” at Halloween? Or Jingled at Christmas? Well, how about You’ve been Gobbled!? Never heard of it? Look it up – so many cute ways to include your kids in the blessing of neighbors!
Randomly rake leaves at a neighbor’s house (yes, we do have some leaves here in the desert!).
Send notes to shut ins.
Tell people you are thankful for them and what they mean to you. I think so often we simply assume that people know we love them or that we are thankful they are in our lives. Often they don’t. And you can never be told too much how you are loved or how you bless someone simply by being!
Call or text someone in the morning and tell them not to make dinner that night. Tell them they don’t need to open the door, you are simply dropping off dinner for them at the door and you will text when it is there.
Go serve at a local food bank (find out what their COVID protocols are). You will be floored at how blessing others blesses you in this arena.
Offer to watch a friend’s kids.
Send a text a day to different people in your life and simply tell them you are praying for them and you hope they have a great day.
If you have littles, get a pumpkin and each day take a sharpie marker and write 1 thing they are thankful for. At thanksgiving dinner read them all off. It is a great reminder for kids to look back over the weeks of all they have been blessed with (and it can begin that Gratitude Habit in them as well).
If you are far away from grandkids, nieces, nephews, or little friends, set up time to read with them over SnapChat, Facebook Groups, Facetime, or any number of video chat apps. When we were really in lockdown, I would do this with my Grandson each night and we both loved it. Which reminds me…I need to start that again – and he is only 5 minutes from us. It doesn’t matter, when you can read to them, especially before bedtime, it can also bless mom & dad with a little time to chill before tucking them in. Win-win-win!
Ok, that is just a really short list of creative ways to bless out of abundance of a grateful heart. My challenge to you is, on November 1st…just start. Pick one of these things and start. If you don’t already have a habit of gratitude, there is no better time than now to start. If you stumble, its ok, simply start again. That’s the beauty of gratitude, there is always something to be thankful for.
Once again, thank you for choosing to listen today (or whenever you might be listening). I will be back next week with another episode. As a reminder – like I said, I’m recording this on the 28th and it will release on the 29th of October, if you haven’t voted already, please go vote on Tuesday the 3rd. And, please be in prayer for our country, our leaders (no matter who wins) and our world.
Until next time, go find a creative way to make someone smile!
Photo by My Life Journal on Unsplash
