In honor of Thanksgiving this week, I decided to do a 24 hour Gratitude Challenge. From 06:00 a.m. on Monday through 06:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning (today), I wrote down something I was grateful for every hour, on the hour.
Besides the kids being off of school, yesterday was a pretty average day. I thought it would be a good opportunity to do this challenge, to focus on the little, everyday things I have to be grateful for. (And to help you all get in the right frame of mind for Thanksgiving, if you are celebrating this week!)
I’m grateful….
06:00 ……that I fell back to sleep after being awake from 3:30-4:00 a.m. I was starting to think I wouldn’t and was dreading start my week with a 3:30 a.m. wake up!
07:00……for an hour of quiet time with my tea. I really enjoyed browsing and sorting my Christmas tree pics for yesterday’s post!
08:00……for focused work time while the boys just lounged around and didn’t need anything from me. It was nice to not have to get ready for school.
09:00……for hot water in my shower and for my John Frieda shampoo and conditioner that I really love.
10:00.…..for dental insurance that includes at least some orthodontic benefit. (Ethan had an appointment for impressions and x-rays at 10:15). Also, that Asher’s friend’s Dad is our orthodontist! I really like and trust him.
11:00……for 10 minutes in the sunshine puttering around adding chemicals to the hot tub/ wiping it down. The fresh air felt nice. 🙂 (I sometimes secretly fantasize about moving to a tropical island and being a cabana/pool girl 😉 )
12:00……for quiet Christmas music on while I worked.
1:00 p.m…….for my boss emailing me to cancel a meeting tomorrow. We just spoke on Friday about my project so the meeting was unnecessary. I’m grateful for a boss who doesn’t force silly/ unnecessary meetings that are a waste of time.
2:00 p.m…..for technology that allowed me to communicate with a coworker and for her to be able to share her screen with me so I could help her with an issue!
3:00 p.m….I just got an email that an “anonymous donor” from the swim team has offered to purchase the traditional State Qualifier sweatshirts for all of the kids who qualified (even though the State meet has been cancelled). Those special shirts are a big deal to the kids so this is going to make them all so happy!
4:00 p.m…. for my comfy black leggings. Just one of those days. (Who am I kidding, it’s kind of always one of those days…)
5:00 p.m….that my family and I are safe. I just heard about a terrible car accident in town, including at least one fatality. 😥
6:00 p.m….for Minute Rice! I whipped up some steak milanesas and broccoli for dinner and wanted some rice, quick. Minute Rice to the rescue.
7:00 p.m….for Ivan being willing to take Asher to his 7 pm lap swim time so I could stay home and workout with Ethan! (He has started lifting weights with me!! Yay!)
8:00 p.m….for the WordPress app. I really love getting notifications on my phone whenever someone comments on my blog!! ❤
9:00 p.m… for the luscious feeling of contrast between the 30 degree air and 104 degree hot tub water.
10:00 p.m….for the soothing routine of washing my face before bed
11:00 p.m….for a comfortable bed and pillows
12:00 a.m….for the rest and restoration that comes from sleep!
1:00 a.m….for a nice, DARK room for sleeping.
2:00 a.m….that no one wakes me up at night anymore!!
3:00 a.m….for sweet dreams (when they happen and I remember them)
4:00 a.m…that I am in charge of my own wake up time and no longer “have” to be up and out the door at a certain time anymore
5:00 a.m….that even though sleep is great, I honestly look forward to getting up and starting my day and living my life, too!
6:00 a.m….for the realization that finding these 24 things to be grateful for was EASY! Which means I have a lot to be grateful for.
*I recorded hours 11 pm-5 am this morning. I did not wake up hourly to record my gratitude entry. 🙂
This was fun! I’ll have to do it again. It felt like a mini-gratitude boot camp. Haha. Give it a try and let me know if you do!!! 🙂
GRATEFUL KAE 
Before I got to the end i was thinking – wow, she got up every hour during the night! Ouch! Good call to NOT do that! It’s good to push ourselves to think of things we are grateful for. You are very good about that since that is the theme of this blog and it’s something you’ve been cultivating in your life. But it’s a good exercise for everyone regardless of whether it’s a habit we’ve formed or not. 2020 has felt like a gut punch at times but I still have a long list of things to be thankful for!
I’m thankful that Phil grabbed some unisom for me yesterday. I do not like taking sleep aides but was talking to someone yesterday who encouraged me to get some so I can get better sleep leading up to the baby’s arrival. I have not been sleeping great lately and it was really starting to wear on me. Plus I have a head cold right now so need the extra rest. I will only take it up until delivery and then will just hold onto it for times when I really need help sleeping. It was wonderful to get 8 hours of sleep last night, even with getting up every 2 hours to go to the bathroom and having to get up at 4:30 to get an ice pack for the flare in my shoulder!
LikeLike
Haha! Definitely did NOT sacrifice sleep in the name of gratitude 😜😜
LikeLike
I love this list! I wanted to make a blog post of my own one this but my energy is lacking. So I am grateful for hot tea, a new duvet cover, a place to live and filling out a Phd application no matter what comes of it and old movies!
LikeLike
I love hot tea too. And eeek! How exciting about the PhD applications! That’s amazing!!
LikeLike
what a fun challenge! when we stop and really think what we are grateful, we can always find something! love love love this.
LikeLike