Week Two: Count Your Blessings

To multiply your joy, count your blessings.
— J.B. Priestley

When I considered my challenge this week (“Count Your Blessings”), two thoughts began to circle through my mind. This should be relatively easy; I am employed, I own a home in a developed nation, I had a happy childhood (that’s at least four already). Then came the nagging doubt: because I thought this would be easy, maybe there’s a lot in my life that I am actually taking for granted.

Advice on the internet ranged from broad (count your blessings) to specific (write down three things you’re grateful for). I wanted to go beyond simply “food, roof, safety” and challenge myself a bit, so I set myself the task of listing 52 things I am grateful for – one for each week of this project.

Coming up with the first 18 was a breeze; they just flew out of my pen. Then I paused. In my excitement, I realized I was coming dangerously close to listing objects in my vicinity and writing down the names of all my friends and everyone in my family. While I am immensely grateful for the people and things in my life, I decided that for this to work, I need to be more intentional and less automatic.

So I put down my pen and decided to let them come to me slowly, like little bolts of lightning. Every hour or so for the rest of the day I would have an “ah ha!” moment, quickly fish out my pen and paper, and grin to myself as I wrote down another thing.

Later in the evening, I came home and sat with my husband, filling him in on my progress (I think I was at #32). Just being together and casually talking about our days helped me immediately fill in at least 10 more things. By the end of the night I had my 52, with more spilling out of my head (and mouth) every few minutes.

#26. Our Years with L.C. the Dog (and all dogs)

Each time I added something new, I re-read the entire list out loud from beginning to end. Something began to happen when I heard the words. Like a mantra, my disjointed list had a rhythm to it that was somehow both energising and calming. Reciting my gratitude imprinted a sense of joy, pride, and genuine happiness that grew as I continued reading. When I was finished, I read the completed list aloud to my husband. Sharing my happiness with another person expanded my sense of elation. Watching the recognition and affirmation form on his face as I made my way through turned my gratitude from idea to being. Sharing my gratitude somehow made it more real; something we could see and experience together.

Later on I thought about how I wrote my list and the instructions I had given myself. I believed my natural inclination would be to overthink and to develop some sort of system of rank and category. Instead, it came out like a conscious stream of thought; I let creativity win over structure. The incongruity of one item placed next to another continues to delight me and makes the practice of exploring my list even more enjoyable. Letting it live, unaltered, makes it feel more raw, real, and authentic.

The exercise of counting my blessings is one that I will continue to do over time. Perhaps every New Year, or during significant moments in my life: birthdays, holidays, changing seasons; times of sadness, loss, triumph, joy. When I stop being intentional, I am truly taking my blessings for granted. When I experience my gratitude and share my blessings, I am creating, cultivating, and experiencing Happiness.

To read my full list: https://howtobehappy.art.blog/?p=97