Gratitude Box for 2016

In my never ending quest to cultivate more positivity in my life, I’ve been toying with the idea of having a gratitude jar or box for quite a while. I’ve seen countless posts on pinterest from people who made positivity jars or gratitude jars. Basically, you decorate a container of some sort and every day you write one thing that you’re grateful for and toss it in (this can be anything at all, your family, your friends, an ice cream cone- whatever your heart pleases!)

At the end of the year, you take out all the notes and read through them to revisit all the beautiful moments you were grateful for the past year. For 2016, instead of making resolutions and not keeping them, I decided to take on this little project and see where it goes. The posts I’ve seen online typically use mason jars or some glass container for their notes but because I’m a worrier and I have little siblings, my mind immediately wonders “what if it fell and broke?”  

So for my gratitude project, I actually chose a box to put my notes into. It’s sturdier and quite a bit bigger. I’m a rambler so I’m going to have long notes and 365 of those will take up some space! I picked up my box from Michaels and my idea of decorating it was putting a little label in the handle that says gratitude box. That counts right? (lie to me and say it counts ^_^) It’s a very pretty little box with a vibrant red lid and covered in a London-esque theme, so it doesn’t really need decoration. My gratitude box is for 2016 but I couldn’t wait for the new year so I started it a few days ago because why not right? It’s never too early to start being grateful for the good things in life.

Every night before going to bed, I sit before this box and think about my day. When I’ve selected a moment (or few) that I’d like to express gratitude for, I grab a pen and write it all down. As I mentioned, I’m a rambler so I go on for a while and just write down whatever comes naturally. Then I fold it up and place it in the box with its little fellow notes and head off to bed. Even though I’ve only been doing it for a few days now, I can't help but notice an immediate upswing in my mood when I do this little exercise every night. I go to bed feeling very peaceful and content, I’m quite enjoying it! It’s also starting to shift the way I perceive things. When I have a negative experience, instead of complaining about it, I find myself feeling grateful because it could definitely be worse. I suffer from anxiety (which comes and goes) and this little project has also helped me deal with it when it rears its unpleasant head. On the whole, I thoroughly recommend doing this. It takes barely five minutes every day and the benefits are so worth it. 




I thought I’d share my little project with you, lovely reader, and possibly motivate you to start one of your own. It’s a fun little exercise to do with children or by yourself every night to remind yourself just how good you have it. It’s so easy to get caught up in tiny insignificant worries and make enormous, intimidating mountains out of them. We forget all that we have going for us and focus only on the minor disturbances. It’s important to take a step back every now and then and appreciate all that we have. 

I’d love to know what you’re grateful for today, tell me in the comments! :)

P.S. In the interest of honesty, this is what my box usually looks like with a pen and scraps of paper thrown right in so I don't have to hunt for them. I took them out for the picture above to make it look a bit neater and more aesthetically pleasing. Oh what shallow creatures we humans are! 

8 comments:

  1. It definitely counts. ;-)

    Wow, what a beautiful project/idea!! (I'm glad I live in the city and have NO ACCESS to Michaels because TAKE ALL MY MONEY, MICHAEL'S.)

    I also see nothing wrong with taking notes out now and again (no need to wait a whole year to read) when you're feeling low and need some kind, compassionate words to Self (which is what us anxious folks need more of. totally feeling you on the anxiety thing).

    Whenever I am aware, I just stop whatever I'm doing, and briefly give a shout-out of gratitude for everything.
    =)

    Your new friend,
    4'11"

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    1. D'awwwww if this exchange were happening in person I'd give your tiny self a hug, you're so nice :)
      I agree completely, sometimes we anxious folks need words of kindness and a lot of the times we end up relying on others to pick us up, which isn't healthy. A gratitude box is helpful for giving yourself a pick me up when you can't see through the negativity. I actually put you on my little gratitude note yesterday! In a non creepy way lol just grateful to meet like minded people :)
      You know, you should think about starting a blog yourself, if you have the time. With all the places you've visited and your natural skill at storytelling (the hair story still makes me giggle), you'd have people clicking in from far and wide to read your thoughts. :)

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  2. Hug backatcha! & thanks for putting me in your box, that's so sweet. xo

    I did have a blog and I kindasorta regret deleting it (I'm a very all-or-nothing personality; sometimes that's good, sometime's it's inconvenient) because it was pretty depthy, kinda activist-ish, kinda personal, lots of visuals. At the time I deleted it I was DONE with it. But for some reason, my tarot study blog is out there floating around still!! https://kafkasghoststudiestarot.wordpress.com/
    Have a great rest of the week, Belle!
    xo,
    4'11"

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    1. Aw what happened? I mean you don't have to tell me, of course, but did something happen to make you feel you were done with it? You should start one up again! I'll be your first subscriber :D

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    2. Happy Friday, Belle!
      I just stopped having things to say [out loud]. I do wish I hadn't been so hasty or whatever made me keep the darn tarot blog around I wish would've had me keep the other blog around. I was pretty happy with the writing and Twitter was giving decedent retweets. ;-) I'm on break from the Twitter but if you have one, let me know. Would love to continue being your penpal; you have so much interesting stuff going on right now! =)

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    3. I actually have no social media :/
      Something about the whole thing makes me nervous lol I like to enjoy life in the moment and all that you know? But I think it's about time I get with the program and get myself either an Instagram and Twitter. I'll make one and report back. Interesting, btw, why the hiatus from twitter?

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    4. Tehe I also visited your blog! Fascinating stuff, though I'm completely ignorant on all of it unfortunately. One day, if you find the time you really should re-explore blogging, you're a wonderful writer. :-)

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    5. Thank you, Belle. I'm enjoying your posts.
      That Kafka's Ghost blog is a hoot! Whenever I read it it makes me laugh. I sent an email to the address that was attached to your comment on the blog; alas, it's been so long since I blogged over there, I no longer remember the password to even approve your comment! LOL. Check your spam to see if you got my email. ;-)
      Twitter hiatus is important at this time because I'm studying for the bar exam. The last time I took the exam was over 13 years ago so I need all the brain power I can muster and not be distracted by panda and emergency fox tweets! This is my second state and I'd like to pass the first time around. Hope to connect with you on the emailz so I can tell you more. =D

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