Thankful Thursdays!

30 Day Challenge to be THANKFUL

Being THANKFUL doesn’t just happen!  It comes through daily affirmations of appreciation and gratitude for what we do have and even for what may not be ideal in our mind or world.  You wouldn’t expect a flower to grow without water nor would you expect your body to get healthier without nourishing it, so why would you expect to feel like you have enough and you are enough, without nurturing a THANKFUL spirit and mindset and an appreciation for yourself, those around you, and for where you currently are in life.  A THANKFUL life does not mean being complacent, but accepting and working with your present circumstances while patiently waiting for what is yet to come.

Over the next 30 days, I challenge each of you to create a THANKFUL Jar; a reminder that life is full of wonderful pleasures to be THANKFUL for in spite of what it may seem like.  Your THANKFUL Jar will be a constant reminder and source of strength and support to overcome any situation and help brighten every day.  The moments of THANKFULNESS you add to your jar daily will continue to multiply your appreciation for how blessed your life truly is and will gradually remove the cloud of disdain and negativity that so many of us get caught up in.  It is the simplest of things that make life so wonderful – the morning sun, a hug from a loved one, a smile from a stranger, an afternoon walk.  All of these things and so many more enrich our lives daily, but we have to take the time to recognize them and appreciate them for their worth.  It is time to be THANKFUL for what we have and stop obsessing over what we think we do not have.  Taking the time to cherish precious moments of joy helps each of us to be THANKFUL for life as a whole.

Starting your THANKFUL Jar is simple.  All you need is the following to begin:

THANKFUL Jar Ingredients

– 1 jar/box

– Decorations for your jar/box (optional)

– Paper and pen for writing THANKFUL Affirmations

– Daily Thankfulness

The idea is to daily write down at least one THANKFUL affirmation and place it in the container.  There is no limit to how many affirmations you can write per day, but you must include at least one each day.  At the conclusion of 30 days you have a few options.  Continue adding THANKFUL affirmations to your jar or begin to revisit what you have already included.  Make it a family project and have everyone in the household add an affirmation each day.  You can read them aloud at the end of the week to share what the family is THANKFUL for or possibly save them for Thanksgiving to share with everyone.  When times become hard, because they will, reach in the jar and read the first one you grab.  When the jar is full, make a scrapbook displaying each THANKFUL note and add a sentence or two as to why you are THANKFUL for that affirmation.  There are a multitude of things you can do with your THANKFUL Jar, but the biggest purpose is to develop an appreciation and sense of gratitude that extends beyond the jar and becomes a way of life.  Writing and reading the affirmations will help fortify that principle.

THANKFUL is a mindset, it is a purposeful pursuit of happiness and a conscious effort to rise above despair and disappointment.  Choose to be THANKFUL and when you need a reminder, look into your jar.

Share your THANKFUL affirmations here with BrotherWord or at facebook.com/Brotherword or @BrotherWord as we build our THANKFUL Jar and add to our daily THANKFUL affirmations.  Add the hashtag #ThankfulJar with each THANKFUL affirmation and begin the challenge to a happy and THANKFUL life today!

Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough. ~ Oprah Winfrey

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. ~ Melody Beattie

When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself. ~ Tecumseh