Welcome back to the Week of Gratitude! Today is Day Two, but before we get into it, there are two questions that I want to answer for everyone.

The first one is, What do you do when what you’re looking forward to doesn’t happen?

The gratitude prompt yesterday was to think about something you’re looking forward to in the near future and to appreciate that now.

I love this question because this happens all. the. time.

Especially if you're a mom.

There's going to be times when you'll be looking forward to doing what really makes you happy and you'll be so excited to get started. But before you even make progress, your kids interrupt you.

Then you have to stop what you barely started and help them and then restart all over again.

Plus, you have to deal with the emotions that come with that. The frustration, the resentment, the discouragement.

Feeling like it's not worth it or that it's not fair that you never get to do what you want.

So let’s break this apart because I want you to see where the emotions are coming from and why it matters to know.

When we feel appreciation, gratitude, or excitement, it comes from our thoughts. It comes from what we THINK about the thing, the event, or the circumstance.

It's not the THING you are doing (or trying to do) that's causing your excitement. Your excitement comes from what you were thinking about how you were going to spend your time.

So this also means that when you feel disappointed, frustrated, or apathetic, that emotion is also coming from your thoughts and not from the thing.

This is very good to know because our feelings drive all our action.

They are why we do what we do and why we don't do what we don't do.

But what I want you to remember in this situation is that it’s never wrong to feel good even if it doesn't work out.

All the time you spent feeling hopeful or excited, that helped you be a better person.

When you feel better, you do better.

Not only for yourself, but also at home and with your kids.

If we told ourselves not to get excited about having fun, we would miss out on so much! Our house would miss out, and our kids would miss out. 

We would never get started.

So the real question becomes, how do we deal with the disappointment.

• Number one, realize it’s created in your mind. It’s not the thing that’s disappointing. We know this is true because we could ask everyone how they feel about the situation, and we would all have different thoughts.

• Number two, your original thought is still available to you. You can still feel excited about what you were looking forward to. Maybe it’s just not happening when you thought it would, and that’s okay.

• Number three, disappointment isn’t wrong, and it’s optional. You can feel disappointed. You can find it in your body and feel it, process it, and move on. You don't have to stay there.

You don’t have to take it with you.

It doesn’t have to ruin your day.

There is always another way to look at the situation.

The best way to find that other way is to come back to gratitude. When things don't work in your favor, it's just because you hit an obstacle.

Obstacles don't have to mean stop. 

Obstacles are just OBSTACLES.

When you treat obstacles as obstacles, you move forward.

Okay. I hope that’s helpful.

The second question was on time.

The question is: How do I make sure I actually do it instead of forgetting or thinking it’s a nice idea?

It’s so easy for the day to get away from us. One minute there's chaos at breakfast, and the next the kids are coming home from school. Where does the day go?

If you were going to do the extra 15 minutes challenge yesterday and you forgot, this could be why.

When you decide to do something, you want to consciously think about your day and decide ahead of time exactly when the best time to do that would be.

If you decided to do it after lunch was cleaned up, what I would do is set an alarm on my phone for 1pm and plan on NOT wanting to do it.

The kids will probably be in the way and all I’d want to do is sit and have a cup of coffee. Especially if there’s lots of clutter that doesn’t belong to me.

You want to be realistic with yourself, but planning on not wanting to do it doesn’t mean you don’t do it. 

It means that when that time comes, I know I'm going to feel resistance in my body, and that’s okay. It’s supposed to be there.

I don’t have to feel motivated.

I don’t have to feel excited.

I can still go to work and get it done because I know when I do what I said I would do, I get to feel satisfied.

It is a skill to do what you said you would do.

You want to practice it.

So let’s get on with the day two gratitude prompt.

Day Two Gratitude is to find 10 things you enjoyed about yesterday. You can turn this into a daily practice at the end of each day by finding 10 things you enjoyed that day.

This will make you feel so good.

Here’s my response: 

1. I’m so grateful for feeling good.

2. I love how my kids sleep in.

3. I am so grateful I have amazing realtors.

4. I am so grateful God is finding the perfect home for us.

5. I love sending my kids to school.

6. I love eating good, healthy food.

7. I LOVE my fresh, crisp sheets hung on the line.

8. I love watching my girls play together.

9. I love easy dinners.

10. I’m so grateful I went on a walk with my daughter Sybil.

If you have more questions, need help, or want to share, hit reply!

xo,
M

DAY TWO GRATITUDE : list 10 things you enjoyed yesterday (do this before bed regarding current day)

GIVE :  15 minutes of your time to your kids or your husband with your phone out of reach