A Season of Gratitude

Ahhh, the Thanksgiving season is upon us. How did that happen so quickly? As you get older, busier and more run down the days seem to come and go so much faster. I've been reading this article in my Real Simple magazine about the benefits of being grateful. Remember when Oprah went through that whole gratitude shick with the journal and the book and all that? Yeah, well I was too young then and too busy gettin' it done to take the time out to participate. Now that I'm a little older and a little wiser, it seems like a good idea. So in addition to my prayer request journal I've added a column of 5 things I'm grateful for each day. Here are some of the "take homes" I got from the article about the benefits of expressing gratitude.

• It helps you feel in control. Hello, BONUS! The more control I have over ANYthing these days, the better. It says people who acknowledged gratitude once per week felt more autonomous than those who didn't.
• It improves your health. Apparently people who kept gratitude journals tend to exercise an average of 33% more and sleep a 1/2 hour more each night. Yeah okay, we'll see.
• It helps you cope better with trauma. Painful memories are less likely to surface in those who are regularly grateful. Alright, this I'll buy. I'm pretty grateful internally, and I think it has a lot to do with my outlook in bad times.
• It bolsters self-worth and self-esteem. When you count your blessings, the positives outway the negatives in difficult times. This sounds like another personal bonus to me, so I like it.
  

So that's what I got out of this article, and it's challenged me to rediscover the lost art of letter writing. I fear that my nieces and the youngest crowd in my generation won't ever even know the proper format and tone of a letter. We're so hip and high tech that no one ever takes the 10 minutes you need to write a letter. Consider yourself notified: you may receive a letter from me soon. I'm committing. I included some pics of a few people and places I'm thankful for. I invite you to explore your gratitude for the remainder of this month. Stick a post-it note on your monitor everyday with one thing you're thankful for. I wonder if it will put life into perspective for you. MAN, I'm deep.

Time out, I've decided to add a new beat to the blog. My Ins and Outs. Sometimes I just need to say what I'm down with and what I'm over, so stay tuned.

The new Eagles Greatest Hits CD, Christmas stuff and music being out at Target, short hair cuts, wearing the right navy with black, these super cute personalized tumblers from Market Street, trendy glasses, fishnets, the double looped scarf (it's the one that doesn't hang. It wraps around your neck twice and just sort of lays like an over-sized necklace) Legends of the Fall and Diane Keaton: Count me in!

The new season of Girls Next Door, AC/DC's new CD, Ne-yo being confirmed gay, fake nails, period pieces and Angelina Jolie with her overacting "I want to be taken SO seriously slash I'm a home wrecking whore" movies: I'm out people!

Opinions welcome this week! What are you in and out on?

Until next time, it's just another day in the life.