This time last year, I went through one of the toughest years in my adult life. Everything (seemingly so) that could go wrong did and everything that could go right totally didn’t. Stress had been woven into every minute of my day so intricately that it seemed impossible to separate the two. So one day, I woke up and grabbed an empty (& cleaned) spaghetti sauce jar, a small notepad, and a pen. I started to write down 1 thing I was grateful for in my life on each piece, fold it up, and put it in the jar.
My son
My home
Being alive
Knowing love
That my job called me and said that it was snowing too hard to come in
I filled that jar halfway in one sitting and felt the threads of stress and depression that were strangling me snap one by one, little by little. Everyday after that, I wrote one thing down that I was grateful for in my life, and filled that jar to the top until it was overflowing with my hope and gratitude. I don’t usually believe in the hubba baloo stuff that supposedly makes you feel better. But, filling this jar with my gratitude parted my dark clouds that year. It made me see why I was so lucky to have the life that I do. I still add to that jar. I still push myself to see pass my cloudy days.
