Finding Joy: 3 Ways To Practice Thankfulness Everyday

Welcome to the Finding Joy series! Here I will be sharing activities that help me to find joy in my life despite whatever my current situation may be. My hope is that you can also find joy in your life. Whether it be through any of these activities I share, or hobbies and experiences that you love. Want more Finding Joy? Check out why music brings me joy here.

November has come and gone. Now that December is amoung us it’s easy to shift our focus from thankfulness to the hustle and bustle that comes this time of year. December holds a special place in my heart with all the Christmas shopping, movies, and prepping for the new year.

I’m here to tell you the practice of being thankful that we focus on in November shouldn’t be forgotten. We should practice it every day, not just once a year. Here are three ideas to get you started on a daily thankfulness practice.

● Reflect: At the end, or beginning, of each day spend some time listing at least three things you are thankful for. It could be something as small as your morning cup of coffee, or something bigger like spending time with family.
● Give: You can do this by simply sending a text, or calling someone, to tell them you are thankful they are in your life.
● Pray: The most important thing that we have to be thankful for is God’s love. We can show this, and all the other reasons we are thankful by thanking God for them during our prayer time.

My Thankfulness Journey

I started with just listing three things each morning from the day before. Right now I’m participating in the last 90 days challenge that Rachel Hollis created, which includes listing ten things you are thankful for. This has been a stretch for me because honestly, I sometimes struggled coming up with three things each day.

It’s not that I don’t have anything to be thankful for, deep down I know I do. The problem is that I feel like many of my days are a repetitive state of blah. Nothing exciting, or even remotely interesting, happens most days. These leads to my thankful list looking repetitive and bland as well. I’m certain that this is a mindset issue and once I take control of my mind I’ll discover how great my life is and how much I have to be thankful for.

What I have discovered in making a list every day is that even though many of them are repetitive it has helped me truly appreciate the small things more. Like a nice day, a friend reaching out to me, family movie nights, etc. If that is the only thing I gain from doing this every day, then it is worth it.

During this season of giving thanks, I encourage you to find the joy in being thankful for both the big things in your life, as well as the small moments.

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What are you thankful for? Share with us in the comments!