So, continuing on with the new posting schedule I’ve started this week here on Vibe Shifting, I’d like to introduce you to “Gratitude Tuesday”. I looked for a meme that I liked, but none of the standard Tuesday ones worked for me, so I decided to invent my own. Because I felt like it. And because I can. And because gratitude is one of those important things that should have its own meme (yes, I know about #ThankfulThursday… but I needed something for Tuesday!) And I’ve even invented hashtags for Gratitude Tuesday ‘cause I’m just kind of geeky that way: #GratitudeTuesday or #gratituesday. Catchy, huh? Just remember that if either of those ever go viral, you heard ‘em here first! 😉
Why Gratitude Tuesday?
I’ve posted previously about the importance of having that “attitude of gratitude” that everyone talks about these days, and about how focusing on even the smallest things that we are genuinely grateful for in life, even when everything seems to be going wrong can be life-changing. And while I believe that the best kind of gratitude practice is one that you do every day (I usually recommend spending a few minutes at the end of each day thinking about everything that happened over the day for which you are truly grateful or appreciative, and then writing your top three down in a journal, or just on some loose-leaf paper that you keep in a binder), I thought it might be fun to create a special day of the week to celebrate gratitude, in the grand tradition of internet memes, wherein we can all share the items we are most grateful for over the past week. I thought maybe it would help to demonstrate just how easy it is to find things to appreciate in life, and that if we all jumped in we could help shift everyone’s vibes together.
How to participate
Participating in Gratitude Tuesday is easy! Al you have to do is post something you are really grateful for, thankful for or appreciative of that happened in your life since the previous Tuesday. You can either post your items in the comments section under each of my Gratitude Tuesday posts (I’ll create a special category for these posts) or you can Tweet your gratitude items using either or both of the hashtags mentioned above.
To get the ball rolling, this week I am most grateful for:
1. The warmer weather! Spring is finally starting to arrive in my part of the woods, after a very long winter. The past few days have seen above freezing temperatures (we’ve even hit the double digits a couple of times – woo-hoo!) and the return of many of our summer songbirds, and it makes me so happy to see the snow melting and to hear the birds singing again.
2. Time spent with family. I went away for a few days last week and took a train ride to another city to visit my sister, whom I haven’t seen in a while. It was fun to spend some time with her and to revisit a city I haven’t been in since my university days. While I was there, I also had a chance to catch up with a few other people I haven’t seen in a while, which was wonderful.
3. Messages from within. Another aspect of getting away for a few days, and having hours to myself on a relaxing train ride was that I had a lot of uninterrupted quiet time to just think – a luxury that is really hard to come by when you are usually looking after a couple of preschoolers. It allowed me to reconnect with my inner voice and to get myself re-grounded. I’ve been floundering lately, and having this alone time really helped me to refocus and remember my “why”.
So that’s how easy it is. Out of all the wonderful things that have happened since last Tuesday, these are my top three – the things that I am most grateful for and/or appreciative of this week. Now it’s your turn! What are some of the things that you are most grateful for this week? If you’re on Twitter, tag me at @VibeShifting and use either #GratitudeTuesday or #gratituesday… I’ll retweet all the best ones! 🙂
photo credit: geralt via pixabay cc
