I have done this gratitude practice quarterly for awhile now and as I post each of these lists, they generate more traffic and interaction than the last. I love it!
Several authors that I follow will pause quarterly and build a 'What's Saving My Life Right Now' list. These lists allow for a simple acknowledgement of what brings joy, relief and fun in life for them in this season.
I picked up the practice and find it so helpful to purposely pause and identify these things for myself - a quick moment of gratitude.
There are not rules here, simply logging things that are helping me win my days and love life. I highly encourage you to take a look at mine and then create your own list!
For this season and wrapping 2023, here's what has been saving my life:
Holiday shopping and activities planned early - so hold up here, when I say early, I literally only mean that my shopping was completed a whole week before Christmas. My kids were off school starting 4 days before Christmas and I hustled to be done prior to that time. BUT here's the kicker, I started the planning for what matters to me most during the holiday season in late October. It may sound crazy but it saved my sanity and helped me keep in mind what is most important about this time to me and my family.
Permission to rest - We were sick immediately following Thanksgiving and immediately following Christmas (the beauty of work from home arrangement?). Flu/cold meds were permanently out on our kitchen counter for both months of November and December. No energy and coughing plagued our household. Christmas morning mess stayed right where it was for over a week. My body needed to rest, period. So I gave myself permission to do just that.
New pajamas - My mother in law gets me a couple of Christmas gifts that I always love - new, white bedsheets and pjs. This year's silky, comfy pair were perfectly sized and timed. I lived in them for several days 😬
Creating a new vision board for 2024 - Last year, I created a vision board to drive me mentally through 2023. It was amazing. Many of those items came to be for me during the year. It was a good practice for me and so I am creating a new one for 2024, using some of the lessons learned from last year's board.
Fiction reading - I typically have several personal growth and non-fiction books of interest to me going at a time. It's not comforting reading though. I turned to fiction during December sickness time. It was a delightful change of pace and kept me entertained between couch and bed times of rest.
Fun, in table setting form - this is simple and obviously isn't for everyone but in my planning ahead, I was able to spend some time creating a table setting for Christmas morning breakfast that I found to be beautiful. It brought me joy to create it - that is all.
Infrared sauna time - I gifted myself some sessions in an infrared sauna simply because I wanted to try it. My husband and I both love the traditional sauna at our gym but I had read about infrared saunas and gave it a go. Very relaxing and different than the traditional sauna time.
This quarter's list is a bit different than the others from 2023 but it was a different kind of quarter for me. Consider compiling your own 'what's saving my life right now' list just for yourself or share it with a friend for another way to connect.
Maybe what's saving your life right now might help someone else win their day as well!
Check out previous lists:
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