Week 1 of the gratitude challenge

 

This inspirational quote is not wrong.  But here are some other things I've noticed so far in just one week of doing this challenge.  My recovery rate from stress is a lot faster, which surprised me.  I've been laughing a lot more.  I'm experiencing less reactivity to difficult conversations.  Instead, I'm learning to really listen to what the other person is saying, instead of negatively reacting to it and having an unwarranted emotional response. This has helped things a lot.  And, I'm noticing a boost in confidence.  I'm less likely to avoid doing something important because my confidence is higher and I'm not as worried about a negative response from doing whatever thing it was I would've tried to avoid in the past.  Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately depending on how you view it, with the confidence, a bit of arrogance tried to creep in there.  I'm realizing this is because it was something I had suppressed and didn't integrate into my psyche when I was younger and my self-confidence tanked.  But, this challenge has helped me see this arrogance for what it is, and I can work on it at face value.  But, overall, I've been a lot happier, a lot more compassionate, more patient with myself, and am seeing things - even negative things - in a more positive manner.  Oh, and I'm not in as much physical pain either.  So that's definitely a plus.

I'll admit, it hasn't been easy to come up with things some days, and I'm only a little over a week in.  But, it makes me sit down, and think about positive aspects of somethings that may not typically be viewed as positive. And that alone generates an overall feeling of peace and gratitude in general, not just for the specific things I've been writing.  

If you would like to know more about why I'm doing this, see my previous post on gratitude. And if you'd like to join in on this challenge, you can start any time.  Trust me, it's worth it.