Sunday Serenity: Gratitude in a Jar

With the holidays quickly approaching, we are often reminded to think about what we are grateful for.  But I feel it’s important to be aware of what we are appreciative of every single day of the year.

This is a photo of my “Gratitude Jar.”  I received this beautiful glass jar last Christmas.  It has a wooden lid, and comes with TONS of little ‘gratitude’ cards.  I simply take a card, write anything and everything I am grateful for, and plunk it into the jar.

It wasn’t long before the notes began to pile up, as it were.  Which meant that the things I have to be grateful for are plentiful.

Here’s an example of one of those gratitude moments.

“I am grateful for the puppy that wagged its tail when I walked past it this morning.” 

Taking the approach that our lives are filled with things to be grateful for suddenly opens up more to be grateful for.  In other words, once we truly realize how many blessings we have, new experiences, people, etc. suddenly begin to ‘show up.’

It isn’t a ‘coincidence’ though, that more things to be grateful for arrive in our experiences when we truly recognize the abundance of blessings each and every one of us already has. Our job, for lack of a better term, is to acknowledge those things.  You don’t need a Gratitude Jar to do this, but I think writing down what you are grateful for seems to have a special energy in and of itself.  It brings your awareness to ‘see’ and ‘feel’ gratitude in a different way.

I like to think of it as a magnet.  The feelings of gratitude attract more to be thankful for.

Thank YOU for reading this post.  Yes, you are in the jar. 😉