So I have this awesome little app on my phone called a gratitude journal, and every day a little reminder pops up to remind me to write down that for which I am grateful.  It also has a nice little quote or saying, and today, it said this:

Before you begin to write anything, silently say “Thank you” twenty times.  Feel the feelings of gratitude as you repeat the words.

I’m really happy it had this today for a variety of reasons.  Usually when I fill out my little journal, the things I post are pretty simple.  I’m grateful it’s the weekend, or that I’m snuggled under warm covers on a cold winter day, or I’m grateful that the Patriots won (that would be today’s gratitude.)  But for a large part of today, I wasn’t grateful, in fact, I was feeling downright sorry for myself.  I wasn’t dwelling on it, but the down in the dumps mood did happen  more than once today.  You all know how I feel about those moods – I think they are inevitable, and we need them to help us appreciate the good moods even more.  But this little quote today really hit me hard.  I have been writing down the things I was grateful for, but I hadn’t been FEELING them.  That’s something I obviously need to work on, and I will.  I truly do want to practice an attitude of gratitude, and if on any given day the only thing I can find to be grateful for is the air that I breathe, then I will feel that gratitude right down to the tips of my toes.  So join me in practicing an attitude of gratitude, and more importantly, in truly feeling grateful each and every day.