A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing Down One Thousand Gratitudes

This is how to begin appreciating the moments again, how I am settling back into listing one thousand things I am grateful for:

~ Realize that if you live in America and have a home, car, and job, then you are among some of the wealthiest people in the world. Even though we struggle financially, I still know that my family is truly blessed here in the U.S. compared to many in other countries.

~ Live deliberately with your eyes open, looking for the positive, the beautiful, the lessons learned hard, the interesting, the grace-filled peace, loving interactions, thoughtful times, refreshment. 

~ Be aware of what is happening NOW. If you look around, wherever you are, there's an extremely good chance that you can find something, at least one thing (if not many things), to be grateful for in your life. Try it.... what are you thankful for right now?

~ At the end of the day, even a day where everything seemed to go wrong, try to come up with at least three things you can hold as gratitudes. Did you have access to clean water? Give thanks. Did you drink coffee this morning? Give thanks. Did you have gas to put in your car? Give thanks. Were you surfing the web on your smartphone? Give thanks. Were you able to read because you had schooling opportunities as a child? Give thanks. Can you read a Bible without the government arresting you and dragging you off to jail? Give thanks. Can you walk safely down your street without being in fear of your life? Give thanks. Is there food in your refrigerator? Give thanks. Do you have time for leisure activities? Give thanks. 

~ Eventually, become more detailed. Give thanks for a poem read at an opportune moment. Give thanks for a prayer answered. Give thanks for a kind word spoken by a friend right when you needed it. Give thanks for discovering new depths of patience with your children. Give thanks for experiencing greater awareness of God's love. Give thanks for a beautiful sunset.

~ Write them down. When you are feeling like there is no point to getting up in the morning (we all have those mornings), take your list out and read what you have written. Be encouraged by all the blessings you have, and let it help you turn humbly, gratefully to the One Who Gives All Things.

~ Once you begin finding gratitude and being deliberate about seeking specific things to be thankful for, then your outlook may begin to change. Blessings appear everywhere. Just as there can be lovely flowers hidden in the darkest forest, in the hardest times, there are always blessings. We just need to train our eyes to see them.