One of the things I've been working on to get myself in a better mindset and to maintain that mindset, is Thankful Thursday. I tried to do the whole Three Good Things Every Day thing, but that felt like too much--like I was listing the same things over and over, and it was actually making me less thankful for those things. It was too much attention and it was bleaching out the little things I love every day.
But once a week? That's perfect. Plenty of time to have new and different experiences, to notice new and different details, and to not beat them to death and crush the magic out of them.
And you know, it's working.
Last night, we drove an hour and a half to go to my grandpa's 89th birthday party, and my grandma's sister, who I haven't seen since I was maybe thirteen or fourteen was there. And my uncle's new wife. And the kids of one of my cousins, none of which is met yet. I was worried because I'm always the Black Sheep and there have been different family-times that I'm still coping with. And there's always the Conservative Conspiracy Hour that crops up at every gathering, which makes me so uncomfortable.
But I've been training my brain to be positive. I headed off my before-trip panic attack with meditation, and I got through the whole several hours of noise and personal questions and repetitive catching up with positivity and lightness. And when I got home, I was glad I'd gone, even though I'd thought of begging off.
And now that experience can go on this week's list (above), and can weigh against the former upsetting family things.
It's a simple practice, thinking of five things I'm grateful for out of each week. Five things out of seven days. It means even bad weeks can hold gratitude, and good weeks have enough to bolster the bad ones.
Do you practice gratitude? How do you do it?
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