Never did I think that on March 13th, our 10 year wedding anniversary, that that would be our last “outing” in almost seven weeks. I do recall sitting there with TJ though, wondering if this would be one of the last times we would be able to go out for a short while (read: two weeks at most). Yet, as we head into May, and find ourselves still under “safe at home” orders, I’ve found myself feeling all the feels over the past several weeks:

Anxiety over contracting Coronavirus– it turns out that allergy season decided to rear it’s ugly head at the same time the pandemic started… so the sore throat + cough I experienced from post nasal drip didn’t help.

Sadness for those losing loved ones + their lives….

Sadness in having to cancel our spring break trip + our 10 year anniversary trip.

Frustration in simply not knowing.

Feelings of inadequacy as we try to balance work, family, activities, etc….

And a myriad of other emotions….

After about a week of feeling relatively negative I decided I really needed to make a change. I’ve always practiced gratitude in some way over the years (i.e. being able to identify things I am grateful for each night, pausing in a moment and taking in how thankful I am, etc…) but the diligent and intentional practice is something that I had slowly drifted away from over the last year…..

So I decided that now was a perfect time to start again. Knowing all the positive benefits of it, I knew it was what I needed to pull myself out my negative cycle. I told myself I would be consistent. Two days a week, in the morning (during Camille’s first nap), I would write down a couple of things I was grateful for and really meditate on them, and give thanks to God.

After about 3 weeks of being diligent with my gratitude practice I noticed the following, positive, changes:

I was better able to generate meaningful experiences within the confines of my own home…

I was more present with the girls…

I had a much more pleasant disposition + was more attuned to my feelings …

I had an increased sense of satisfaction with where I currently was in life, despite the situations occurring around me + comparison was minimized….

An overall sense of “needing” less…

For me, I think having gratitude also provides an inner sense of peace. Comfort + appreciation with what I have. I included a really simple hand-out on gratitude journaling below. Something that you can save, take a screenshot of, or just reference back to if it’s something you want to try. Hopefully it’s helpful for in some way.
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