Having an attitude of gratitude helps keep things in perspective — and believe it or not, expressing gratitude can actually increase happiness levels by 25%, which is a cool tip for a happy family. So every Friday, I reflect on a few things big and small from the past week I’m grateful for, and I invite you to share a few things from your life too, either in the comments below or over on the Facebook page.
Here’s what’s on my gratitude list this week:
>> So thankful there were no injuries and no serious damage from the terrifying storm that hit locally the other night, and especially grateful our power outage lasted less than a day this time.
>> What a merry, memorable 18th birthday family dinner for Ben last weekend! The beautiful handwritten cards his brothers presented him with were heartfelt and touching, and it was especially gratifying to see their sincere expressions of brotherly love and pride.
>> Always grateful for girlfriend time, and two-and-a-half-hour teas have become a tradition with one of my faves. Yay that we finally got to catch up in person.
>> Thrilled for the opportunity and inspiration to take my writing in a more focused direction, thanks to my understanding publisher and lessons in best practices from an outstanding media strategy expert. Very excited to have made some breakthroughs this week — including creating my new Happy Family Manifesto — that I hope will lead to personal and professional satisfaction.
>> Very grateful to have a fresh start to a new month, leaving January and its illness, tiredness, stressfulness and weird schedule disruptions behind. Wishing you a healthy, happy and productive month ahead!
How about you? What are you grateful for this week?