Week 9 - Senses: Weekly Gratitude Journal Prompts

Week 9: Your Senses

Wow!! Imagine life without the ability to see, to hear, to taste, to feel? This week's gratitude journal prompts focus on our senses and our experiences with each of them. As you go through this last week of the year, do so with an awareness and delight in the gifts your senses have to offer.

Gratitude Journal Links
The Gratitude Habit Journal: http://tinyurl.com/TheGratitudeHabit
Parenting the Gratitude Habit: http://amzn.to/1SyRjpJ

Gratitude Quote: Sandra Day O'Connor

“I think I learned to appreciate and treasure each day, because you don't know how many you're going to be given.”  ~ Sandra Day O'Connor

All we have is today. Yesterday is in the past and tomorrow is the future. Appreciate your experience of being in life with each day you are given. It is truly a gift.

Week 8 - Your Home: Weekly Gratitude Journal Prompts

Week 8: Your Home

There is so much to be grateful for in and around your home. No matter how much or how little you have, a home is filled with things that make life easier and support your days. And in itself, a home provides a means for protection, comfort, and in most cases, a safe haven.

Also, consider the reasons to feel grateful for the location of your home and the surrounding area.

Gratitude Journal Links:
The Gratitude Habit Journal: http://amzn.to/1loEhRL
Parenting the Gratitude Habit: http://amzn.to/1SyRjpJ 

Winter Gratitude

I cannot believe it is already winter and only ten days away from another New Year's Eve. 2016 is just around the corner and we have already covered our citrus plant to protect it from the frost. I must admit - I don't love the colder weather, but with every season there is plenty of reasons to feel grateful.

I feel grateful for the jackets, hats, and gloves that keep me warm on cold days, for our wood burning stove that helps us crank up the heat in the house so efficiently, and I love and appreciate any shoes, boots, and socks that can truly keep my feet from feeling chilled. At the first sign of colder weather, I can be found in the kitchen, creating a soup from whatever we happen to have in the house at that moment. And this fills me with gratitude for the bounty of my cupboards, the creative process involved, and the culinary results of the experience. And with winter, there is always at least one trip up to the snow with friends or family to look forward to and enjoy.

There is always something to be grateful for! What would you include in your list of winter gratitudes?

Week 7 - Places: Weekly Gratitude Journal Prompts

Week 7: Places

There are many locations we have lived, experienced, and loved that live in our minds and hearts for one reason or another. There are places we would choose to spend time, alone or with others, to find peace, to have fun, or to visit in our memories.

The focus of this week's gratitude journal prompts is on the places in our lives.

Gratitude Journal Links:
The Gratitude Habit Journal: http://amzn.to/1loEhRL
Parenting the Gratitude Habit: http://amzn.to/1SyRjpJ

 

Give the Gift of Gratitude

Give the Gift of Gratitude

Consider giving a Gratitude Habit journal to those on your gift giving list this holiday season. Parenting the Gratitude Habit is a perfect gift for parents who might be interested in growing their personal relationship with gratitude and having a resource of activities and ideas for fostering gratitude in their children and family. And The Gratitude Habit is an ideal gratitude journal for just about anyone, with prompts, activities, and exercises to further develop their habit of gratitude. Both journals have 365 numbered entries so they can be started on any day of the year.

They are both available at Amazon. The Gratitude Habit Journal can also be purchased at Barnes & Noble and Book Depository. Book Depository is an international bookseller with free shipping worldwide to over 100 countries.

Week 6 - Human Connections: Weekly Gratitude Journal Prompts

Week 6: Human Connections

Human connections are such an important part of our life experience. We interact with one another through more than words. In a face to face communication we pick up on subtle and not so subtle facial expressions, tone of voice, body language, and even the energy and mood of the person we are speaking with. The gift of a person's presence in our life can be experienced so beautifully through hugs, touch, and smiles. In fact, it's always remarkable to be able to hear the sound of a smile, in someones voice, over the phone.

This week's prompts are dedicated to the many ways in which we can connect with one another.  As you go through the week, notice with gratitude the interactions you have with the people in your life.

Gratitude Books for Children

While I was creating my newest journal, Parenting The Gratitude Habit, I compiled a list of books for children on the concept of giving thanks and feeling grateful. Spending time with your children by reading books about thankfulness, is one of the many ways of teaching gratitude.

Here are a number of the books I came across:

Gratitude Books:

• I'm Thankful Each Day by P. K. Hallinan (age 2 and up)
• The Thankful Book by Todd Parr (3-6 years)
• Thanks: Learning to appreciate. Gratitude for children. by Luciana Reis (3-10 years)
• Gratitude Soup by Olivia Rosewood (Preschool-Grade 3)
• Grateful: A Song of Giving Thanks (The Julie Andrews Collection) - By John Bucchino (Preschool-Grade 4)
• The Secret Stone by Jill Lauffer and Kathleen Roberts
• Biscuit is Thankful by Alyssa Satin Capucilli (4-8 years)
• An Awesome Book of Thanks! by Dallas Clayton (age 4 and up)
• Secret of Saying Thanks by Douglas Wood (K-Grade 3)
• Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? By Dr. Seuss (K-Grade 4)
• Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Prayer by Chief Jake Swamp (5-11 years) 

Books on Ways to Say Thank You:

• 101 Ways to Say Thank You, Kids and Teens: All-Occasion Thank-You Note Templates, Social Media Etiquette & Gratitude Guide by Kelly Browne
• The Thank You Book for Kids: Hundreds of Creative, Cool, and Clever Ways to Say Thank You! by Ali Lauren Spizman

You can find this list of books in Parenting the Gratitude Habit along with many tips and ideas for making gratitude a family experience.

8 Tips for Teaching Gratitude

We all want the best for our kids. By teaching our children to be grateful for what they have, we are giving them a gift that will last throughout their lives. Grateful people have been found to be more productive, optimistic, positive, and happy. They are able to develop good relationships, effectively handle stress, and feel an overall sense of well-being. Now, isn't that what every parent wants for their child?

Here are some basic ways for naturally incorporating gratitude into the fabric of your life and family:

1. First, grow your own sense of gratitude in order to: appreciate life, experience joy, more easily notice the positives, and to set an example for your children. The most powerful teacher is one who can be a role model. Develop a gratitude practice by keeping a gratitude journal, writing grateful letters, taking "I'm thankful for" photos, or by using any method that works for you and helps to grow your gratitude.
2. Incorporate fun gratitude games and activities into your home and family as a natural way for imparting the gratitude experience.
3. Include the concept of gratitude in family dinners and discussions. Interject gratitude stories into your family time by sharing personal anecdotes or stories you find in the news or on the internet. Ask your kids questions about people and things they appreciate having in their lives, activities they enjoy, and holidays they are looking forward to and why.
4. As a family you can create visual reminders in your home to be grateful for what you have. Create a poster, painting, or a sign to hang. Whatever you decide to create, get input from each member of the family.
5. Freely and openly share your appreciations. Let your kids see and hear you expressing your thankfulness at home and when you are out-and-about.
6. Consider opportunities for family giving. Find ways to donate your time and energy as a family. Giving to those in need helps reinforce the feeling of having enough and appreciating all that you have. In the meantime, you will be sharing a memorable experience.
7. Remember to take care of you and your needs. Find things to appreciate about you and make time for the things you love.
8. And... Make gratitude a habit for you and your family. 

For many specific ideas for making gratitude a part of your life and fostering gratitude in your children, check out Parenting the Gratitude Habit. It's available for purchase at: Amazon. 

Week 5 - Favorites: Weekly Gratitude Journal Prompts

Week 5: Favorites

We all have our preferences. When we think of any of our favorites, we inclined to smile or feel good inside. We have developed a relationship, through a history, with our absolute favorite book, music, and flavor of ice cream, for example. When we think of our favorite food, we can practically taste it. When we think of our favorite place, we can see it in our mind's eye or feel what it's like to be there. It becomes quite easy to feel the gratitude we have for our first choice preferences.

This week's daily gratitude prompts encourage us to look at the things of life that put a twinkle in our eye and a smile on our face. There are seven days of journal prompts listed but take the time to appreciate many more of your favorites this week and consider what it is about them that makes you feel grateful. (... favorite color, city, vacation, friend, time of year, sound and scent, day trip, piece of clothing, and the list can go on and on.)

Make sure to create experiences this week with some of your favorites. Work them into your days to have a more joy-filled week.