The Gratitude Project

So, I'm not super crafty/creative, but I tried to make a heading for these Gratitude Project posts and I'm loving the brown and mint!

My sister Chelsea inspired me today.  She talked about the power of gratitude in our lives and her desire to document the things she is grateful for this month.  I have felt a little down on myself the past few days and I noticed it affecting my ability to be productive and actively enjoy my life.  I truly believe in the power of positive thinking and have decided with today being the first day of November it is the perfect time to begin a Gratitude Challenge to help myself focus more on my blessings and less on my challenges.  Each day this month I will post something that I am grateful for and determine how I feel at the end of the month compared to the beginning.  Join us if you'd like to.

Today I am grateful for a healthy body.  I recently finished reading Stephanie Nielson's (of Nie Nie Dialogues) memoir, "Heaven is Here" and it caused me to reflect a great deal on my life and the things I frequently take for granted.  Like how I am cable of stepping into the tub without paper-thin skin on my knees tearing open and bleeding.  Like how I've never had to have my eyes sewn shut so they could heal (ugh- it makes me claustrophobic just typing that!).  Stephanie has gone through so many horrifically painful things (emotionally as well as physically) and reading her experience helped me to realize, "Wow, I should be a million times more grateful for my body!"  Sometimes I get frustrated that even though I'm in pretty good shape (we're running our half marathon on Saturday! eek!) my stomach will never ever ever ever look the way it used to pre-Daphne.  It's the weirdest thing, feeling so strong, and then looking down at a tummy that looks and feels like wrinkly bread dough.  It always makes me sigh a little inside and feel bad for Burke, wondering if he misses my once toned stomach (despite him reassuring me a million times that he loves me just the way I am).  However, as I read this memoir it made me realize that I am SO blessed to have strong arms to lift my baby girl and a body that can carry pregnancies full term.  I am SO blessed to have feet that can run miles upon miles and hands that can perform fine motor skills.  I mean, I pushed a 20+ pound baby 4 miles today in a jogger for crying out loud!  Yes, my body has imperfections, but it is capable of doing almost anything I ask of it.  And in my opinion that's a pretty amazing thing to be grateful for.

Darling Print Found HERE