Baby toes. Ocean sunsets. Cream puffs from the Wisconsin State Fair.
These are a few of my favorite things.
When we focus on the stuff that’s missing from our stories, it’s the equivalent of inviting Adultitis into your living room and encouraging him to put up his feet while you prepare him a seven course dinner. I’m just saying that you shouldn’t be surprised at how difficult it is to get him to leave at the end of the night.
On the other hand, cultivating a sense of gratitude is like slapping a restraining order on the big jerk.
As much as I have to be grateful for, I still find it all too easy to take the good parts of my life for granted. And as the old saying goes, we don’t know how good we have it ’till it’s gone.
The recent post from my friend Ryan really struck a nerve with me. He wrote about the idea of taking one picture a day of something you are grateful for. One thing. And then post it on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter or wherever. It’s sort of like a gratitude journal, except it’s so easy a caveman could do it. If cavemen had smartphones.
Well, color me inspired. I intend to celebrate Thanksgiving Day thirty times this November. Starting on the first, and for the whole month, I will be posting my one thing every day on Instagram, using the hashtag #thankstagram.
Who’s in?
Do you really need to take pictures in order to make the best of your days? I am really skeptical about this. Happiness consists of enjoying the present moment and enjoying the anticipation that your current actions are leading to a desirable goal. Try to present that in a picture. I would rather write a diary than take a daily picture, for instance. An interesting article, but I do not share your views in this case.
Hi John! Thanks for sharing your viewpoint! To answer your question, no, I don’t need to take pictures in order to make the best of my days. You can certainly get much deeper with a diary, but as a visual person, I find the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” to be quite true. Just seeing an image of something I experienced brings back a flood of memories. While this little project is not for everyone, I was intrigued by the idea in terms of helping me be more mindful of the good things going on in my life.
Thanks again for the comment :)
I like this idea a lot! How simple & fun. Count me in!