Attitude of Gratitude at Our Little House

This is the time of the winter that it really starts to get to me. We’re far enough out of the  holidays and still eons from the beginning of spring that I start getting the winter blues, cabin fever or whatever you want to call it.

I was speaking to one of our Living Large community the other day, interviewing her for an article on living in a small space and I asked her if the winter wears on her too and she gave me an unequivocal “Yes,” as she began talking about spring and her plans for her garden.

This winter has seemed worse for some reason, we haven’t had the deep snows most parts of the country have experienced, but it does seem like it has been cloudy and dreary more and that makes the short days of light seem even shorter.

Extra expenses with the heating unit, another cut of hours for Dale, the loss of a steady gig for me due to budget cuts, well you get the idea.

On top of it, my two favorite television shows were cancelled suddenly. “Life Unexpected” ended abruptly, the writers seemed rushed as they wound up in two minutes what easily could have went into two more seasons. “Medium” was also cancelled and viewers were rewarded with one of the most depressing series endings I’ve ever watched.

So much for network television for me, there’s nothing on now that I watch. We hate reality television (I didn’t even know who “Snookie” was during an early morning news show interview until they explained she is some party girl on a reality show about the Jersey shore) and sports, so we’ve been ordering old, but good HBO series from Netflix. We’ve seen “Deadwood,” but it keeps Dale entertained while I read so….

This week, I did see a story about a new book, “365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed my Life.” The author, John Kralik, decides to be thankful for what he has in his life by setting a goal of writing 365 thank you notes.  At the end of the year, everything he found wasn’t going well in his life before turned around.

I haven’t read the book yet, but Kralik’s premise isn’t unlike what I blogged about last February when I did a series on the Law of Attraction. I do a gratitude list each day, noting things I am thankful for, but this book reminded me that I haven’t written an actual thank you note in awhile. Besides, I thought, if someone is listed on my gratitude list, shouldn’t they know about it!?

So, I shook things up and by the end of the exercise on the first day, I was feeling much better about life, mostly because I know these notes will help brighten the day for the recipients. I don’t know if I will do 365 of them, but sending thank yous will certainly become a part of my gratitude ritual.

Thank you again, to our Living Large community for reading and interacting here, which is really what makes it a community rather than just another blog.

Now I really feel good and spring is not that far away, only 52 days and even less for Daylight Savings, which will bring even more light into our lives!

Do you do a gratitude list or write thank yous to people? Does it make you feel better?