Gratitude Dare

I’m having this dilemma in my head. All about gratitude vs. cheesiness. It seems as though November first runs around and everyone is all about flooding Facebook, blogs, and the internet at large with thanksgiving. Good for them. I’ve done the research. Everything points towards health benefits. There are no negative side effects (aside from utter cheesiness). But I just can’t get past the “everyone is doing it,” thing. I want to be grateful. I like that it can help re-align your life and your brain. And I have no doubt I could use an emotional detox after this  year. So how do I join the bandwagon without jumping on the back of the very-overcrowded November Challenge truck? Especially because come December 1st, that truck tends to dump it’s members right out in a frenzy of “Christmas Grump.” I want a permanent detox. I want a genuine heart. I want a thorough cleanse that goes deeper than words. I think I’m going to start my own November Challenge. It just hit me. Up until this paragraph, I had no clue where this post was going. I guess I should call it a Gratitude Dare. Do you remember a few years ago (okay, more than a few) when Fireproof came out, with all of its truth and cheesiness? I guess the concept is the same. Except instead of saving a marriage, it’s more about saving a life. So if I remember right, you start out with one step, and you add one step a day, and by the end you’ve made a whole month’s worth of good habits. So… Here goes. My Gratitude Dare.

1. Write one word to describe something you’re grateful for.
2. Write 1 sentence of gratitude beginning with “I am blessed because.”
3. Write a paragraph about why you’re grateful for something.
4. Now make it 3 things. Write a paragraph about each.
5. Look at the bright side.
6. When you wake up this morning, tell yourself it’s going to be a great day.
7. Take 30 seconds with your eyes closed and just give thanks for being awake, alive, and cognitive.
8. Go for a walk. Enjoy the weather.
9. Tell some one thank you.
10. Get out of your comfort zone to tell someone thank you.
11. Send out a thank you note.
12. Apply the anyway principle.
13. Serve someone less fortunate than yourself.
14. Serve someone you feel is more fortunate than yourself.
15. Give a gift.
16. Give something you own to someone without.
17. leave an anonymous unexpected surprise.
18. Give of yourself.
19. Call your mother. Or your father. Thank them.
20. Dedicate today to expressing gratitude to your spouse.
21. Is there a person you’ve always been grateful to that you’ve never expressed? Thank them.
22. Wake up early.
23. Read scriptures/doctrine.
24. Pray.
25. Practice Mindfulness.
26. Solve your own problem.
27. Now onto the harder stuff. Today, give thanks for the negatives.
28. Today, thank God for your imperfections.
29. Give thanks for the things you’re still waiting for.
30. Have you thanked yourself yet?

I confess that this sounds hard, and if I didn’t really want a change of heart, I’d put it off until next November. That makes much mores sense, right? I mean, I may actually have followers on this blog by then. And yet, I don’t know what’s going to happen this year. It already feels like I need to be grateful now and not postpone (there’s a concept. Not postponing gratitude…), so ready or not. Here goes. If you’d like to join in, you can post here and let us know how you’re dong or you can write on our Search for Seven Facebook page.