Great to be Grateful

So, in case you couldn't tell from my previous post, I've been feeling a little sorry for myself recently. I knew life would be tricky being in school and trying to take care of a family while also trying to make ends meet. But it really is hard, and sometimes it bums me out. I'm still completely happy with my decisions to go back to school, but it is rough. And unfortunately it seems like the holiday season magnifies that. It seems like in some aspects we CANNOT catch a break, and I don't understand why. But I don't have to understand why. I need to have faith that it will get better.

So, rather than being a mope I decided to do something about it. I found this challenge in the New Era Magazine. That is a magazine the LDS church publishes for teenagers, so I often refer to it to teach my Sunday School lessons.

The challenge was to write 100 things are you are grateful for. I know 100 seems a bit overwhelming. When I told Jimmy we were going to write 100 things we were grateful for, he stared at me like I was crazy. I did this same activity with my Sunday school class, and they too looked at me like I'd grown a 3rd eye. But it's not so bad when you follow the lists below:

•Write 10 living people you are grateful for.

•Write 10 people who have died you are grateful for.

•Write 10 physical abilities you are grateful for.

•Write 10 material possessions you are grateful for.

•Write 10 things about nature you are grateful for.

•Write 10 things about today you are grateful for.

•Write 10 places on earth you are grateful for.

•Write 10 modern-day inventions you are grateful for.

•Write 10 foods you are grateful for.

•Write 10 things about the gospel you are grateful for.

For those who are not LDS you can modify the last one to be something like 10 things about your religion you are grateful for, etc. Or just come up with 10 more foods you are grateful for, because the food were really easy for me to list.

After Jimmy and I listed all our things, we shared them with each other. It was fun to see what the other person thought of. And it made me feel happy. And grateful. We are keeping our lists, and we are going to refer to them when we are feeling defeated by life. I was glad Jimmy was a trooper and did this activity with me, despite the whole having to come up with 100 things. I think it made both of us feel a lot better. I recommend it to anyone out there who is having a rough time. It really helps!