I have a Gratitude app on my phone. It sends a daily message urging me to make gratitude a priority. Study after study has shown that a gratitude practice improves peoples’ moods and lives.
I turned it off a few months back when my mood started tanking. There’s no bad situation that depression won’t try to make worse.
An “attitude of gratitude” is not only good for my mood, it helps me hold onto perspective. Comparisons are odious, especially so when you’re using them to buff up your negativity. Practicing gratitude reminds me that I’m among the fortunate and blessed, negative happenings and mood disorders notwithstanding.
Nothing pisses one off quite like perspective.
I turned the notifications for the app back on the other day. My incessant ruminations are pissing me off, especially since the only thing they produce is a bad mood.
I don’t like this tendency I’ve adopted of waking up hating on the world. It’s boring, and kind of a downer.
My feelings of gratitude extend to my blog. Or maybe they start there. I don’t say it often enough, but an enormous thank you to everyone who reads, comments, and follows. I appreciate the gift of your presence and attention. I’m grateful for that on the daily. I must remember to tell you that more.
Serendipitous, as it’s a favourite colour of mine.
The thing about a gratitude practice is that it’s easy. It takes almost no time. Spending a few minutes in the morning to express my appreciation for the largess I’m in receipt of is literally the least I can do.
I can fill that “waiting for the coffee to brew” time with something other than squats.
Those eating disorder behaviours do like to stick around. I blame in part the horrible diet advice that littered the magazines I consumed as a teen. If you’re standing, why not do calf raises?
I’m grateful I’ve survived my eating disorder. Not everyone gets to say that. I’ll start there.
From Famine to Feast. 
I’m grateful that you overcame your eating disorder and are so candid about your recovery and struggles—you’re a blessing!
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Thank you so much 💖
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Thank you, Michelle…I’m grateful that you’re grateful ❤️.
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💖
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Heather said it well. I, too, am grateful for you being here and sharing all of these lessons and pearls of wisdom with us.
An attitude of gratitude… Kudos to you for actually rolling with it. I’m still quite the cynic when it comes to such things. Not because I am not grateful. I try to say thank you and tell people how important they are and why or how their words or actions help me and others around me all the time. But when it comes to routine gratitude, I struggle. Yes, I’m grateful that I’m alive and well. That I get to try again to be the best person I can be, etc. But… these mundane things become boring. Being grateful for the same ‘little’ thing every single day throws me off. Maybe my life should be more like a gripping telenovela when every day is different.
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Can you imagine 😂 We’d all have to learn dramatic pauses and long, intense stares.
Thank you. The one thing I do like about gratitude practice is it helps me with my patience, which sometimes needs buffering, like when you’re trying to explain the new smart TV and how apps work to your parents, as a random example 😂
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Grateful to see what life looks from your boat in the storm we share…
~B
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