Let’s talk Gratitude. The seemingly simple act of being thankful for the abundance that life brings. A Google search will lead you down a happy rabbit whole of the multitude of benefits behind a 5 minute gratitude journal. I found this chart along with a fantastic article at the happierhuman.com about keeping a gratitude journal. Check it out. It’s a great read.

This isn’t my first gratitude journal rodeo. And I’m sure many of you have done a Facebook gratitude challenge or two in your day. However, it was time to entertain this practice again.

Enter my confession.

Week 6 was not suppose to be about being thankful. Week 6 was suppose to be about limiting added sugar in your daily life. (Which is going to seem like a piece of cake to me after week 2, pun intended). However, this past week has been a rough one for my mind and body. Plagued with a family full of respiratory junk, a toddler with puke in her hair, sleep cycles reminiscent of having a 4 week old newborn and my rock hard abs NOT from P90X but from incessant coughing, I have taken to becoming that whining lady both at home, work and on Facebook.

My sincere apologies now. I cringe at looking at my own posts. I don’t want to be Debby Downer. I want to be “Slap her she’s too optimistic Kim”. I miss her.

In addition to germs invading our family, I can’t help but feel unsettled by all the political turmoil witnessed on social media threads and what I feel in my heart. This giant, silent divide splitting people into stereotypes they never associated themselves with because they lean more liberal or more conservative. Ultimately feeling more isolated instead of connected. Feeling more dread knowing that nothing good comes out of name calling and fingers pointed from both sides of the line.

It’s time.

It’s time to reclaim happy. To reclaim gratitude. To reclaim simple joy. To reclaim the mass benefits that await us all FOR FREE in FIVE MINUTES!!

In lieu of “3 things you are grateful for” I encourage you to pick one thing and then list 3 reasons why you are grateful. It’s easy for the words daily to be something along the lines of “husband, kids, health” but when you are forced into the WHY I’m thankful for my husband, I believe it has more meaning. Especially if your spouse ticked you off earlier in the week.

If you haven’t already, like me on facebook here and follow me from 2/13- 2/19/17 for week 6 challenge where I’ll be opening my heart and sharing my daily gratitude. I would feel honored if you shared yours (even if it’s in just a private message. I’d keep it sacred).