Six days into this 30 days of gratitude blog series, I’m delighted so many friends and readers have reached out to tell me they are either starting a gratitude journal, picking their old journal up and dusting it off, or just plain letting me know what they are grateful about.
Reading other people’s posts of gratitude lifts me up. Not just because these posts may have had something to do with them intentionally practicing gratitude, but because when others are grateful, I find it easier to be grateful.
On days (like yesterday,) when I’m grumpy, frustrated or just so sick of that one friend of my teenager’s whoalwaysseemstocausesomuchfreakindramaOMG – I love to hear what others are grateful for – it keeps me on track and brings me back to myself. 
Gratitude is contagious if we allow it to be. So when someone you know starts going on and on about their joy about the weather or their drop down on their knees excitement over their son getting into the college of his dreams, be happy for them, and let yourself take it in. Absorb it. Feel it in your bones. Gratitude, even in small doses from others, can fill you up when you need it.
Here is a sweet and uplifting journal entry from my dear friend Laurie, who has a lovely appreciation from her furriest of friends:
Today I am filled with lots of gratitude for my little buddy (dog), Casey! I realize that over the 11 years that he has been with me, he has taught me so much. How to let go of always wanting so much control over my household and how to enjoy the outdoors and nature. He’s shown me compassion when I was sick and how my (bad) energy affects others. I’m grateful today that he’s still with me as he goes thru his weekly cancer treatments. Now more than ever, I need to go with the flow as he makes little messes around the house, is losing hair and leaving hairballs all over the place! He is here to teach me to let go and enjoy the simple things!
After I read Laurie’s moment of gratitude, I hugged my own pooch a little tighter and smiled. Hearing other people talk about the simple things they are grateful for gives me a little spark of joy. And some days, (like yesterday) gosh I needed someone else’s joy to remind me of my own.
What are you grateful for today? Do you have a gratitude journal? A gratitude app? Let me know in the comments below!
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