When the Going Gets Tough...the Tough Get Grateful!!!

The first few weeks of October are busy in our family!  My parents celebrate birthdays two days apart, Michael and I celebrate our wedding Anniversary – 10 years this year, our sweet Parker’s birthday is the same day as our anniversary, and Michael’s birthday is 3 days later!   I have always loved to celebrate occasions and now is no exception, but Phew!  I get worn out just typing all of the stuff we pack into 14 days!  It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of all that celebrating and to feel happy about all of my blessing because there are so many packed into a short period of time, but what happens the day after or the next week when life returns to normal and there isn’t some reason to throw a party? 

As the holidays approach we often hear how many people get sad or depressed this time of year.  For me, January and February are the months that drag on…it is in those early months of cold and darkness that I find myself longing for an early spring and departure of my self-diagnosed Seasonal Affective Disorder…but whenever the time or season it comes for you, it comes.  And when those days creep up on us, it is often hard to see our way out of it.  These are tough times.  And tough times aren't always on cold and dark days.  Tough times don't always come with a good reason or any reason at all for that matter.  That’s why I try to incorporate Gratitude in my daily life…because when the going gets tough, the tough get Grateful!  It’s hard to feel sorry for yourself when you realize how many wonderful blessings you have in life!  I chose the picture above because it represents a tradition I have started in our house to celebrate and REMEMBER all of our reasons to be grateful.  On every birthday or special occasion, I make a GIANT poster of all of my favorite moments and memories of/for the person we are celebrating!  I say tradition, but it really just started a year or so ago.  As many of you know, I love to make a poster, and about that time, I noticed how lax I had become about printing pictures of my family because they are mostly all taken on my phone…so I decided to take that opportunity to print out all of my favorite pictures and make a huge poster for Michael for Father’s Day, and so it began.

So how does all of this tie into learning how to NOT feel so lousy?  Well, many people have heard about the Law of Attraction and the idea that “like attracts like” and whatever you focus on you get more of.  With that in mind, what would happen if we focused more on the things that we are grateful for and happy about?  It stands to reason that we would feel more blessed and full!  If we can focus on these snapshots of happiness and be truly thankful for our blessings and gifts from God, then the days that are not full of cake, ice cream and confetti become bearable because we can reflect on the many blessings that fill our lives.  I have these posters throughout our house and I often find myself standing in front of one smiling or sometimes laughing out loud as I revisit a moment in time.  Our thoughts turn into feelings and then into actions and this is one way that I can keep positive and practice the act of Gratitude.  When I keep my thoughts on all of the many blessings that I have, my feelings and actions follow suit.  It is when I feel blessed and full of abundance, I am able to give freely of my love and gifts!  And then, on the days that are dark and cold, when it’s hard to get out of my funk, I walk over to one of my giant posters…and it is nearly impossible not to start thinking, feeling and acting grateful!  So I challenge you to give it a try!  Make one GIANT Poster and hang it in a prominent area in your home and try not to feel overwhelmingly grateful for all of your many blessings!!

To make your poster you will need

•  2 poster boards
• roll of thick masking tape
•  Scissors
•  1 or 2 Glue sticks
• 40-60 pictures

1.      Print out 40-60 of your FAVORITE pictures (I downloaded the Walgreens App to my phone and selected my favorite pics from my Photo Albums and had them printed at my nearest Walgreens pharmacy.  They are usually ready within an hour and cost $0.29 each for a 4X6).

2.      Tape your poster boards together on the LONG SIDE using thick masking tape.

3.      Begin to arrange your photos in a collage form on the poster DO NOT GLUE ANYTHING YET!  I always get a rough idea of where my pics will go and then I start cutting them down so that they are not all the same size.

4.      After you cut the pictures and have them loosely arranged on the poster board begin gluing them down with your glue stick.  I usually print more pictures than I think I will need because after you cut and arrange you always end up with a little extra space to fill on the Poster

5.      Hang your Poster in a prominent spot and ENJOY!  You will be surprised how much you will enjoy looking at this!  And because the pictures are all different sizes you will see different pictures every time you look at it!