Thursday, November 7, 2013

Happy I'm Grateful

by Judy


Over the past several years I worked from home and I loved it.  It was just me, my computer, my cups of coffee and soft music playing in the background.  Although I was always very busy, I felt so lucky to have that job and to spend my days in my own "happy place."

 Fast forward to the part where the CEO/Owner retires and dissolves the business, leaving me looking for a job.  Bummer.  I knew there was no way I was going to find a job like the one I had just lost, however, I was very lucky to find another job quickly, that is close to home, and works perfectly with my son's school schedule. So imagine my dismay when I realized, just a few days into this new job, that one of the people I work very closely with each day is an extremely negative person.   A real Debbie Downer.  A Greta Grouchy.   A Whiny Winifred.  Yes. That bad.

Now in the past, this would have really bothered me.  It may have even made me grouchy and negative after days of that.  You know they say negativity breeds negativity.  Boy is that true. It can spread like a wild fire! 
As some of you who follow this blog regularly may remember - at the beginning of this year I began a grateful project.  Every day I write down something, or many things, that I am grateful for that day.  I fold the paper up and place it in my "grateful jar."  If you'd like, you can read about it here

I cannot believe how much this grateful project has changed me.  After nine full months of focusing on gratitude I am a much happier person.  I don't dwell on the negative, which I'm sad to say, I used to do quite often.  And when something bad happens I can immediately think of things to be grateful for, realizing that things could be much worse.  Living gratefully helps me manage those times that life brings me negative and destructive feelings, or people, or emotions.  It is something that has been so simple for me to do, but has changed my life for the better in such a short time. 

Have you ever done a "Grateful Project?" We 'd love it if you'd share it with us!   If not, I do hope you will think about starting one.  You can do what I do, write in a grateful journal, or post on your blog.  I'm sure there are as many ways to do a grateful project as there are people in this world.  And it is such a wonderful feeling to start each day with a grateful heart. 




7 comments:

Jeanne said...

So happy that you have found so much positivity from your 'GRATEFUL PROJECT". It is an amazing thing how much difference this can make in your life. I love the idea of a jar... I keep a journal, but things in the jar would be so much more accessible. Love it!

Dotti said...

Oh, this post warmed my heart so much, Judy! It is true ... negativity begets negativity. But the opposite can be true too: happiness begets happiness. Yes, I think happiness is contagious. And being a gratitude filled person leads us in the direction of being a happy/positive person ... even when all those around us are 'losing it'. Your gratitude jar is such a wonderful idea!

kelly said...

yes, judy...i know this to be true as well. although like you say it's not always easy. love the idea of a 'gratitude jar'.

terriporter said...

Oh, I used to work with someone like that! I'd start out the day feeling happy and grateful and after going to lunch with her and her negativity, it brought me down to where I was negative myself. I hated that! Finding something to be grateful for every day is not always easy but it is always so beneficial and it becomes such a wonderful habit. Thanks to Dotti's wonderful post about gratitude, I think many of us who haven't been outwardly expressing our gratitude have begun a gratitude project of some kind. I am posting a 30 Days of Gratitude post to Instagram, Flickr and my blog and I am hoping at the end of 30 days I will continue to concentrate on all the things I have to be grateful for. They say it takes two weeks to form a "habit" so I think the habit of gratitude will have taken hold within 30 days. To all of our readers, if you haven't begun a gratitude project for November, it's not too late to start. And as Dotti said in her comment above, happiness begets happiness. It's definitely contagious!

Viv@Thoughts from the Desktop said...

Well done I'm doing the 30 days of thankful with Cathy Zielske and also the NAPHOPOMO project as well. I am settling in to this new habit and loving it..

Cathy said...

oh i love the idea of a grateful jar...

susan said...

inspiring post judy! and…thank you for the fantastic idea of a 'grateful jar'…adore that! xoxo

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