Today I sent an update to those who have subscribed to The Front Nine newsletter containing an excerpt of the book, due to hit the virtual shelves later this Fall. After reading it again this morning, I realized that I sent it out on Thanksgiving (which is being observed here in Canada today) and it was indeed a fitting piece to send.1
And then I started to think more about giving thanks. I started to think about things come at us and fly by us so quickly that we barely have time to notice them — let alone deal with them. I began thinking about how I’m watching my son, Colton, grow up in front of my eyes every single day ever since I took on this stay-at-home adventure nearly two years ago. I reflected on how much my daughter, Grace, has grown up so quickly and can hardly imagine her at Colton’s age now that she’s going on eight. I spent time simply thinking about my life, even if it was only for a few moments, and how grateful I am for the life I have.
The Weekly Review is one way I connect with everything I have in my life. I’ve put in both personal and professional tasks, projects, and goals into my system so that I don’t lose sight of the bigger picture. In fact, I’m thankful for the people behind these apps and services so that I can spend more time on the things that ultimately are more important. I’m thankful for the space they give me, both creatively and mentally. I’m thankful for the time they give me — time that would otherwise simply disappear.
So I take some of that time to give thanks. Every day.
On Thanksgiving (regardless of when you celebrate it) we are asked to take time and give thanks. But we should take the time to do it every day. After all, there’s always time for giving thanks — we just need to make sure we make it happen.
Whether that is through journalling, or attaching it to a context of some sort in your task management app, you need to find a way to do it. Giving thanks for what you have — or even for what you want to have — in your life brings you that much closer to it.
I have been using an app called Gratitude Journal 365 – A Diary For Your Happiness by Benny Hsu. Benny is behind the Get Busy Living blog and he does a great job of explaining why keeping a gratitude journal is so important in this post. I make sure that at 10 p.m. every night I get a notification (one of the only notifications I have active) that tells me that it’s time to write in my journaling app of choice, Day One.2 When that notification arrives, I go into Gratitude 365 first and simply jot down what I’m feeling grateful for that day — and I even include a photo from time to time. Then I expand upon those thoughts — as well as chronicle my day — in Day One. all of this takes me no more than 30 minutes a day, usually less because I’ve connected with what I’m thankful for beforehand by rooting it all in gratitude.
So make today the first day of giving thanks daily. You’ll thank yourself for it every day going forward. I know I do.
Photo credit: Steven Depolo (CC BY 2.0)
1 If it doesn’t make it into the final edit of the book, I’ll repost it here in short order.
2 The link provided is for the iPad version, which I use most often. You can get the iPhone version here and the Mac app can be found here. As always, any links to apps here at the blog are affiliate links, and I’ll get a little bit of a cut if you use them. So go ahead and do that, please. Thanks.
