In 2017 I decided to do a simple "Gratitude Challenge".
I took one photo every day of something for which I was grateful and posted it to Instagram with a brief explanation. I'm not a heavy Instagram user and my account is private, so this was for me, not for likes and follows.
This initiative was more difficult and more work than I expected it to be when I began, but I didn't miss a single day.
ended up with a lot of pictures of my kids, several photos of my family and friends, and a few silly entries that were clearly made at the end of the day when I need to post something to maintain my streak.
But at the end of the year, I had a photo journal with 365 entries.
And it's wonderful.
Sometimes, when I'm feeling like it's me against the world and the world is winning, I open up Instagram and scroll back through those entries. That look-back reminds me that as bad as things might seem on any given day, I truly have a lot -- a lot -- in my life for which I should be thankful.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends: may you have a lot in your lives for which you can be thankful, and may you remember all of those things well after today's festivities have ended.
