A gratitude test. Let's make it a meme.

My gal Mata has posted an exercise for gratitude on BlogHer the other afternoon. These exercises are hard for me; I always stumble on finding thing to be grateful for. But if there is a positive payoff in going through the moves, I could use the help.

But the point is, gratitude is essential. There is no perspective without it. Try it. Right now. Despite how foolish it may or may not feel to you. Here is what I suggest:

1. Sense how you are feeling for a few seconds. Don't judge it, just feel it.

2. Write down 10 things for which you are thankful. They can be large or small. But there MUST be 10. If it is hard, there still must be 10.

3. Write down 2 more.

4. Read your list and take a breath.

5. Check in again about how you feel -- any subtle changes? Pay attention through the day. Let yourself linger over the list in your mind once or twice. Let it change the edges of things.

1. I feel a little tired still, (it's first thing in the morning). The familiar small ball of panic is sitting above my stomach bouncing in time to my pulse. There is tension in the back of my arms and neck, a slight ache moving up my skull. Tightness in the small of my back. I "feel" a little on edge.

Things I'm thankful for (I suck at this)

1. the joy Katy my lab expresses whenever I return home. massive puppy wiggling ensues.
2. my laptop and the internet.
   
3. breezes
   
4. the smell of laundry dried on the line in the sun.
   
5. sunrises and sunsets
6. coffee
7. sliding under cold sheets at night, and having them gently warm by my body temperature.
8. sleep
9. vanilla mangoes in season.
10. the sense of "centeredness" that sometimes comes through movement.
11. people who are there for me.
12. clean and readily available water.
    

Deep breath.... I'm getting calmer in the middle of that noise and wariness. (or is that the coffee kicking in?) Ok. I can think about this throughout the day and see if it changes anything.

How about you? Brave enough to give it a try? Consider yourselves tagged.

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions today where I model my new jeans!!