Do you have a Gratitude practice? This is one of the things I've been working on cultivating in my life for a few reasons: I feel better when I'm more mindful of what I'm grateful for, it's scientifically proven to increase your life span and improve your health.
For the individual:
increased happiness and positive mood
more satisfaction with life
less materialistic
less likely to experience burnout
better physical health
better sleep
less fatigue
lower levels of cellular inflammation
greater resiliency
encourages the development of patience, humility, and wisdom
For groups:
increases prosocial behaviors
strengthens relationships
may help employees’ effectiveness
may increase job satisfaction
For the past few years I’ve challenged myself to do a 30 days of Gratitude challenge for the month of November. I decided it would also be fun to share here! I'll share in snapshots in a few posts.
November 1 - 10
Day 10 of 30 Days of Gratitude: I’m grateful for swimming and growing up as a swimmer. I’ve often taken for granted that I started swimming at 6 and was in a swim team at various levels of competitiveness for 10 years. The community was amazing as a child and the skills I learned have served me well my whole life and have made the transition to Triathlon much easier!
Day 9 of 30 Days of Gratitude: I’m grateful for running! I spent a large portion of 2020 being unable to run due to a foot injury that turned out to be micro-tears in my Achilles. In 2021 I was able to build back to running up to the half marathon I did as part of Boulder 70.3 in August. Today was an absolutely gorgeous running day and I hit a nearby section of trail to take in the scenery.
Day 8 of 30 Days of Gratitude: I’m grateful for Fall weather and living in a place that has 4 seasons. Each season has parts that I love, and I’m loving the beauty of the trees changing color, the brisk weather, and gorgeous cycling/running weather. Here’s a few snaps from the past two weeks here in PA.
Day 7 of 30 Days of Gratitude: I’m grateful for my clothesline. I love the smell of clothes hung out to dry, it’s THE BEST. It’s more work to use the clothesline but I love having it and I use it most of the year - as long as it’s not freezing or raining - so I should have a few more weeks of amazing smelling clothes and sheets and energy saving too.
Day 6 of 30 Days of Gratitude: I’m grateful for getting outside and doing a solo hike to the best spot on the AT (Appalachian Trail) in PA - the Pinnacle and Pulpit Rock. Logged 9 miles starting shortly after sunrise and enjoyed an absolutely perfect day - started off at a cool 27 degrees but with the right gear I barely noticed!
Day 5 of 30 Days of Gratitude: I’m grateful for hiking with friends. Planned this get together that was looong overdue and were fortunate to have a gorgeous fall day 🍁🍂☀️
Day 4 of 30 Days of Gratitude: I’m grateful for having a few minutes to have tea and catch up with a friend in real life! I forgot to take a picture 🤦♀️ but recreated it using mugs that were an awesome gift from last year.
Day 3 of 30 Days of Gratitude: I’m grateful for school in session, and both kids riding the bus together. Last year school was anything but normal, this year we’re off to a good start in Kindergarten and 2nd grade. I’m also thankfully for the bus, no more pick up and drop off!!!
Day 2: I’m grateful for swimming with the boys. This year both boys have made so much progress with swimming, they aren’t quite as good as @kbringler was at 6 almost 7, but have come leaps and bounds. Going under water, diving for rings, swimming laps, and Miles passing his green band test. Miles has been doing lessons and I play/practice with Max on the other side of the pool and he practices what Miles is leaning. I see swim team in our future 🐬🐠🏊🏻♂️
Join me in 30 Days of Gratitude? I’m starting my tradition of posting one thing I’m grateful for each day in November. I’ve been working on my daily gratitude practice this year and it’s a more regular part of my daily routine, with the boys too.
Day 1: Morning snuggles with Miles, I don’t get to do this often but I love it when I get to have morning snuggles with the boys.
