BEAT THE BLUES WITH GRATITUDE

Sometimes, you have a streak of bad luck. You lose your cell phone, have a falling out with a loved one, and get into a fender bender at the Walmart  parking lot.  On top of that, it rains all day, and suddenly you’re in a funk and can’t seem to pull yourself out.  That happened to me awhile back, and then I ran across one of those self help articles which said that keeping a  gratitude list over a period of one month would leave you in a better mood than a bottle of St. John’s wort.

The suggestion  was this:  Every day, for one month, list three things you’re grateful for.  That calculates to approximately 90 items.  After listing the obvious things like family, friends and home, I wasn’t sure I could do that.  But surprisingly, I found  I’d taken many small joys for granted—like hot coffee and the morning newspaper.  How many women in war torn countries can enjoy these simple pleasures?  And so, the list began to grow, and yes, it worked and by Christmas, I had made it through number 65 , and  was my old self again.

Then my husband had surgery, I got the flu, and we finally went south for a few weeks.  Now that we’re back, it’s been nothing but snow, ice and cold in April.  Time to finish my  gratitude list before the blues take me down.  Today I started again:

66. blooming daffodils

67. my husband’s  recovery

68. a good night’s sleep.

There.  I’m done for the day, and already feeling better. 

So, the next time you lose your wallet and you’re coming down with a cold, whip out a notebook or open up a new document on your computer titled Gratitude List.