1000 Thank You's

Consider this an invitation to join me with my New Year's resolution..wait..I hate resolutions. A friend of mine recently said "If it wasn't worth your time to do it two weeks ago then it probably isn't now."

I guess this isn't a resolution...more like a life style change.

This past year I have had some unique experiences for me. One of them was the "Time out For Women" that Deseret Book produces every year. All of the speakers spoke a lot of truth and touched me greatly, but two of them really spoke to my soul.

One was Mariama Kallon. She grew up in a war torn country, was the victim and was a witness to horrid war crime, and then became a member of the LDS church. She served a faithful mission and then immigrated to the USA. She has been through so much and yet, she is happy, confident and inspiring. All three are my goals in life. How do I get there?

Hillary Weeks was also at the event. She told about an experience she had where she used a "clicker"..or counter..to count all of her good thoughts that she had in a week. She spoke about the profound change in heart and mind that this brought about her. People everywhere had a clicker in their hand and were counting their good thoughts. She had about 1000 good thoughts in a week. It intrigued me..do I have that many?

She also sang a song that has become a mantra for me. I'm sure she wrote it just for me. It is titled Beautiful Heartbreak. It describes the pain that I have tucked away that comes growling out every once in a while. It describes the heartache that I feel when I think about the assault. I feel the heartbreak part easily..but do I feel the beautiful part? That is very difficult for me.

I was pondering these moments for weeks. Trying to figure out a way to incorporate them into ME.

I was perplexed on what I needed to do. I need to be better..I want to be a better person. I think I am doing ok..but ok isn't where I want to be.

At Thanksgiving I received my answer of what I needed to do.

I was reading my friend's blog (Hi Besty! ). She wrote a list of 100 things that she was grateful. Wow I thought. That is super cool. As I pondered her post I knew it was connected to the heart's change that I was looking for.

I recently read an article by Pres. Thomas S. Monson. It is about gratitude, and how if we have a grateful heart then we "unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God’s love." (Its an amazing talk, go read it!)

I figured it out. I needed to be more grateful. I needed to be grateful for everything, always. When I made this realization, I suddenly became very aware of ungrateful attitude I often had.

I desire a grateful heart. A grateful heart will bring healing, joy, confidence, and peace.

This year is the year that I learn to be grateful.

For Christmas I made a few plaques for a couple of friends to join me on my "grateful journey" this year. (Write on them with and erasable marker..changing it as they see fit.)

My goal is to everyday write three items of gratitude on my grateful poster. Something that I am grateful for in my spiritual life, my home life, and in the world surrounding me. By the year's end I want to have more then 1000 things that I am grateful for.

I know many people use gratitude journals, and I think that's fantastic. But here's my thing..I want to remind myself every time I am in my bedroom of all that I am grateful for. I don't want to forget! I seriously am like Dory the fish in Finding Nemo..I forget things very easily! When I have bad days, and I get crazy depressed, I want to have a visual reminder of how blessed I am. I am so blessed to have the gospel, my family, and this world to live in. I need to see it.

Why am I sharing this on my blog? Seem a little ostentatious? That,s not my intent...I share to keep myself in check. If its a secret, then I will easily find excuses to not fulfill my goal. I will be posting a small update, hopefully monthly, to help keep myself on task.

I've only been writing on my gratitude poster for 5 days now and it isn't to difficult so far. It is nice to already be thinking of things that I want to put on the poster tomorrow. Maybe this will change this heart after all.

What are you thankful for?

I invite you to keep a gratitude journal/poster/paper this year. Learn the blessings of being grateful with me.