Gratitude, revisited

As you may know if you subscribe to my blog, my last post before the latest blogging drought was on changing our attitudes to ones of gratitude. Fittingly, I've starting writing again in a month which contains one of my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving. While we often complain about the commercialization of the holiday, Thanksgiving is one that for me, at least, still revolves around relationships and observance. I love getting together with friends and (hopefully!) family for a nice relaxed meal around a nice relaxed day, cooking unashamedly and profusely, getting a guaranteed weekday off of work together, watching some football together, sitting around or playing outside -- and most of all, putting aside our "cool" hats and engaging in the admittedly sometimes cheesy task of talking about our blessings openly and communally (although I almost always get an awkward giggle or to when I insist on this tradition). I LOVE THANKSGIVING!

In keeping with my forementioned plan to enhance the joyfulness of my life and do things other than watch television  (my favorite shows often focus on the grim parts of life), I am going to try to devote an extra amount of time this month to learning about things like gratitude and happiness and apply them as much (and as permanently) as possible in my own life. I'm more into practical, intellectually challenging advice than surface-level, fluffy approaches to life-improvement, so I'm excited to have found several avenues already that I find to be more useful and effective in deeper, more long-term change.

I mentioned that I'm reading Max Lucado's book Great Day Every Day. He encourages us there to apply those lessons of happiness to every day. Even the terrible ones. That is certainly a challenge. But a worthy one. I realized today that while I know the ins and outs of many Biblical stories of people being positive and grateful in terrible circumstances, I've never really thought about the implications of following that example in our lives. I have said that I do, and thought that I did, but when I think about real things that happen or could happen on those terrible days, I have a very hard time picturing myself rejoicing or singing praises about them--for real. This I think will be the biggest challenge; one that I'm honestly not entirely sure I would be able to achieve. From working on a dissertation I know that when one is faced with a mountainous task it is usually best to tackle one small piece of it at a time. Today, I'd like to reflect on and share this sentence from Great Day Every Day:

"Gratitude lifts our eyes off the things we lack so we might see the blessings we possess."

More on perspective later.

Pretty Good Day

Recently I've been doing some reading and reflecting on how to increase the joy in my life and focus less on the everyday worries and more on the everyday blessings. I've read a few books so far that have given me great direction and inspiration, including:

• The Happiness Project, recommended by a friend who read my post about gratitude. I have been so impressed by it that I have also given it as a gift.
• Traveling Light for Mothers, a short but powerful little devotional by Max Lucado, adapted from his previous book Traveling Light. It is a series of meditations on the verses of my favorite Bible passage (and my son's), the 23rd Psalm.
• Great Day Every Day, with a pretty self-explanatory title, also by Max Lucado. I just started it, so I don't have too much to say about it yet. However, I thought of it when I had one of those delightful music moments, when something comes on the radio that makes everything stand still for a couple of minutes. I believe it was on KFOG's Acoustic Sunrise show on Sunday morning, which I enjoy while feeding the little man his breakfast. Anywho, I tracked down the song, and link it here for your enjoyment. Have great day today, no matter what!

Luce - "Good Day" (acoustic)

Luce - "Good Day" on KFOG Morning Show Live and Local @ Pacific Catch San Francisco from KFOG Radio 104.5/97.7 on Vimeo.

Gratitude is the New Attitude

Happy 2012! I have to say I may have started the year on a shaky note, resolution-wise, with an act of procrastination. I meant to write this post yesterday, but we'll go ahead and call today the start of the new year. Today I want to share something that has inspired me to improve my general attitude and approach toward life. As you might imagine (and some of you know first-hand), being a parent can be the weirdest simultaneity of absolute exhilarating joy and complete and utter exhaustion. It is the great experience of my life so far - but let me tell you, it is HARD WORK. Add to that working on my doctorate and keeping at bay the chaos lurking outside the door of my household, and you have the perfect recipe for one tired, demoralized mama. Fortunately I have an arsenal of anti-blue weapons at my disposal - the forementioned fountain of all joy, a baby boy that I only have to look at to return a smile to my face; a fantastically supportive husband who dives in to all baby-caring and household tasks as a true partner, consoles patiently through any meltdowns (of baby and mommy), and is ready with a joke to lighten the mood; a family network that has been there for us unconditionally since day one (of William's life and our own), traveling repeatedly to help out these brand-new parents, dote on their grandson, and make it possible for me to chug along on my dissertation; most of all, divine strength to draw from when my well runs dry and the unmatched blessing of faith in the Rock that never breaks.

With all that in mind, I was recently brought to self-reflection by a piece on CBS Sunday Morning called  "Making Gratitude an Attitude," regarding a scientific study showing that gratitude is measurably good for our health. The idea is that after the holidays, many of us have a bit of an emotional crash after the Christmas-cheer-induced high of holiday tidings and glee. I have to admit that January can look pretty bland after the tree goes down (yesterday), the holiday tunes recede and the neighborhood lights disappear. As Faith Salie talks about in this feature (video below), gratitude is a powerful antidote to those post-holiday doldrums, and a healthy practice throughout the rest of the year.





Although certainly gratitude is a practice valued and emphasized across secular and religious communities, as a Christian it's something that I've been taught to make second nature all my life. The older we get, though, it seems the harder it is to focus on the thanks when overwhelmed by the needs. Lately when I pray I've been trying to force myself to tell God what I'm thankful for before starting on my list of many requests. It's surprisingly hard to do! I definitely have an easier time thinking of what I need help with sometimes than with listing my blessings. But the truth is that I do have a whole lot to feel grateful for as this new year begins, so every day this month I'm going to write down something that I'm grateful for - I'll probably post it on Facebook, and then I'll post the week's list here on the weekend. I'd love for you to join me on my endeavor if you'd like, and write your own list of things you're thankful for in the comments. Today I'll start with the five things I'm grateful for from 2011:

1. The healthy birth and wonder-filled first year of my beautiful son
2. Getting to know my husband on a whole new level with a year of sharing the rollercoaster of parenthood - now I've even more sure I made the right choice!
3. Passing my prospectus colloquium
4. Having the encouragement of friends to get me writing more regularly again
5. Meeting people through my work who awe me with their artistic genius and honor me with the chance to call them friends