Attitude of Gratitude Challenge: Day 1 — Writing My Way to a More Thankful Heart

Jessica Archuleta
Jul 25, 2017 · 3 min read
I DON’T want this to be ME!

In the past, I’ve been diligent about keeping a gratitude journal. In it, I would write down a minimum of three things a day I was thankful for. I know it’s not November “Gratitude Month, ” but the present is always the best time to be thankful.

Unfortunately, I haven’t written daily in my gratitude journal in awhile, but I do still try and think of at least three things to thank God for at the end of my day. I also try and make that gratitude turn into an action in my life by not only being grateful for my blessings but also reaching out to others in need, even if it is “only” in keeping the needs of others in my prayers.

Because I don’t have to think too hard to find things to be grateful for, I’ve decided to challenge myself to pick up the practice of writing them down every day and write more details instead of a short, quick list. I’m going to share it here on my Medium page. It’s good that I can think of things I am thankful for easily, but it isn’t making me think deeply; I’m not reflecting enough and developing my “attitude of gratitude” which I need to do to see a much-needed change in myself.

What I am grateful for:

  1. I had a rough “Cleaning Monday” with the kids. No one wanted to cooperate. I was extremely stressed out when Manny walked through the door from work. He patiently listened to me and tried to help me feel better. The kids knew they had upset me. Each of them came to me before bed and were extra loving when they said “goodnight.” When I made the rounds locking up the house, one of my boys sadly said from his bed, “Sorry we were so bad today mom.” I’m grateful that even though the day was hard, my husband was a comfort and my kids were sorry about their behavior.
  2. My refrigerator has frozen up again blocking the air from circulating so the fridge side isn’t cool enough and the freezer side has ice building up in it. This keeps happening during the humid days here. It’s unbelievably inconvenient and at least some food items will have to be tossed. Still, I have a refrigerator filled with food, and money to buy any items that need replaced. I’m thankful to have a fridge that can freeze up, it beats not having one!
  3. My oldest daughter Scarlett has been hired by an editing business! I’m beyond thrilled and grateful about this. She is majoring in creative writing and loves editing. She has a real gift for both. I’ve pushed her to pursue her dreams, educated her to be the writer she’s dreamed of being since she was young, and now I am seeing the fruit of those efforts. All her tears over Latin lessons, all of her long days of heavy reading of classical books, all the pushing her to do better with her school papers, it was all worth the work she did and the effort from me and Manny. She resented both Manny and me when we gave her an ultimatum that pushed her to follow her dream and go to college. We insisted she didn’t settle for some crummy job that she would hate as long as she lived in our home. Not only has our daughter thanked us numerous times for pushing her to go to college but she is now believing in herself just like we already did. I am so grateful for this.

Feel free to join me in the challenge! I’d love to read what you write if you post online so please let me know if you do!

Jessica Archuleta

Written by

Gratefully writing about food, culture, relationships, education, poetry +more| Happy wife & mama to 10|Hispanic woman| Deeply spiritual & religious💗POM Poet💗

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