All good things must come to an end, and so it is that we’ve reached the last day of our 2-week Gratitude Challenge 2022, but that doesn’t mean your daily practice of gratefulness should end. Rather, today is the first day of your own personal challenge to make thankfulness a part of your daily routine!
Regularly practicing gratitude supports our well-being
with long lasting effects.
It can boost our mood, increase our patience, and reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. It also supports creativity! With so many benefits, why wouldn’t we practice gratitude on a daily basis?
We all know the answer! Change is hard, and individual acts of gratefulness are easier to do than making gratitude a daily practice. The latter requires desire and commitment to cultivate gratitude until it is an integral part of your life.
But hard simply means hard. It’s not impossible. You CAN do this! And there’s no time like the present to start, so here we go!
Today’s challenge is for YOU to take the reins of being grateful!
Choose a way to cultivate gratefulness today!
Don’t panic when you read that. It doesn’t have to be complicated. You could probably think of and jot down a list of five things right now. Remember, there’s no right or wrong way to do this; however, if you prefer some direction, google it!
Type “ways to practice gratitude” into the search bar. Prepare to be amazed at everything that pops up. Pick some you like to finish out this week (even find another challenge), then go for it!
I’ve heard that it takes twenty-one days to make a habit; some say thirty-one. Whichever one is true, you’ve made a significant start in a daily practice of gratitude. Keep going!
Then do it again tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that, and… you get the idea!
Simple in concept, but hard in practice; however, you can make it easier in two ways: PLAN ahead and K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid).
The internet is full of ideas. Search for other gratitude challenges, or “activities to cultivate gratefulness.” Search specifically for images or PDF files, and you’ll find a number of print-ready resources at your fingertips. Share your discoveries with friends on our Body Moves Facebook page or in our private groups.
Maybe you write three positive things in your journal every day or print off a journaling list, and answer one question every day. Find a friend to join you in this endeavor and hold each other accountable. Go back and redo this challenge while you plan ahead a few weeks. Make a monthly calendar.
Whatever you can stay faithful at doing, do that thing!
You’ll be thankful you did!!