Earlier last week, I read this wonderful post on Andrea’s blog. One of the things she mentions is how her son started playing this game where he shares the favorite part of his day at the end of every day. As I’ve mentioned before, I do something like this with my son where I ask him to tell me two things he’s grateful for every day. It’s part of our bedtime ritual. I also pick him up from school every day and when we’re walking to the car, I ask him what his favorite part of school was each day. Sometimes he doesn’t want to play along and just says “no parts” but most days this is how I find out about things he did at school. Today he had 3 favorite things ready for me.
One of the greatest parts of doing this blog is that I get to do it with Lori. It’s something we share. Something we plan. I love reading her posts and I look forward to them. I smile when I see that we’ve used the same topic. I learn and grow when she appreciates something I might not have noticed. Even when we pick the same thing, I love reading her interpretation of it. The words she uses, the photos she shares.
I think, like most things, gratitude is amplified when shared with others. If you have children who can speak, I highly recommend you play this game with them. If they can write, maybe you can keep a gratitude journal with them. I am pretty sure you’ll cherish every single day you do it. And even more so years from now.
If you don’t have kids, but are married, do it with your husband. Significant other. Best friend. Or even neighbor. Imagine how much closer you might get with someone just by sharing one thing you’re grateful for each day. Just pick a person who might be willing to play along with you and start sharing.
Maybe, like Andrea, they will help you see some of your moments through different eyes. At a minimum, you’d be practicing gratitude and that’s gold right there.
The following is cross-posted from the Weekly Gratitude Blog. I will post there every Tuesday and decided to post those posts here, too. For those of you who read both blogs, I apologize in advance. Some weeks the content might be different and other weeks, exactly the same.
When my daughter was in elementary and middle school, we played, One Good, One Bad. She would tell me the best thing of the day and the worst. It gave me a good perspective and enabled her to share both ends of her feelings. Finally in high school, she just rolled her eyes at me. She’s in college now and every once in a while she will call and say, Let’s play One Good, One Bad!