All too often we only set aside one time per year to really, truly give thanks for all we have. Even those who feel they don’t have a lot have one thing we should all be thankful for; the gift of life. Beauty is all around us and if we can capture that sense of continued awe when we stop, take a breath, and appreciate all of the things we enjoy but take for granted, the world instantly looks like a better place.

Gratitude and appreciation is truly the conduit to happiness, a sense of purpose, and a fuller life. I’ve been meaning to start a gratitude journal now, and the idea struck me that it would be even more powerful to share it and inspire others to do the same. My aim is to find one thing to be grateful for each day which will force me to dig deeper to see tiny details that make our lives great but go overlooked.

Without further ado:

#ThankfulThursday – 6/11 – 6/17/2015

Today I’m thankful for…

6/11/2015 – Dragonflies.

Dragonflies eat mosquitoes by the dozens so they are my friend. Outside of that, they’re typically brilliantly-colored and oddly majestic despite their rather prehistoric appearance.

6/12/2015 – S’mores.

S’mores are basically being a kid in a tasty, fire-melted marshmallow, chocolate, graham cracker sandwich – what’s not to love about that? Plus, it reminds me of one of my favorite movies, the Sandlot. Gimme s’more, please?

6/13/2015 – Homes away from home.

Some places are definitely not your defacto home, but you know they are a home away from home when they feel as though they ought to be a home. In my case, it’s our cabin, but for many it’s a friend’s house, their grandparents’ place, the library, or anywhere that feels safe – a sanctuatry.

6/14/2015 – BBQ.

I can’t exactly trace where it started, but within the past couple years I’ve been on a huge barbecue kick. I don’t mean barbecue like many use it – as a synonym for “grilling” – but the real, smoked and slow-roasted amazingness that is real barbecue.

I think it has grown on me since I made my own for the first time. There’s an art to it: what smoking chips do I use? How hot? How long? Dry rub or marinade? How long do I marinade it? What spices do I want to use? In the end, though, you get amazing, smokey, falling apart under it’s own weight hunks of meat that is nothing short of amazing.

6/15/2015 – Luck.

I have a love-hate relationship with the concept of “luck.” On one hand, it feels like luck favors others over us. Like you may hear someone say, “Oh, they only won because they were lucky.” or some other variation. But what I don’t like about that is that we interpret luck as though it’s working against us and it’s often expressed out of envy.

What I really like about Lady Luck is that it can just as easily work in our favor. I’m a huge believer that we make our own luck. You may have heard the saying, “It took me half my life to become an overnight success,” – that’s making your own luck in practice. You put yourself in a position to find luck in the ways you seek it, and sooner or later you’ll uncover it, too.

6/16/2015 – Constructive Criticism.

I find it fascinating how, generally speaking, we are all very defensive at our core. We hear something that sounds like criticism and we reject it – “that guy/girl’s a jerk / they don’t know what they’re talking about / etc.”

However, these are all opportunities to treat that feedback as constructive criticism – in most cases it is, even if the person delivering it lacks the tact for it to come across that way. Think of them like a coach – their success depends upon your success, so any criticisms are intended to be constructive – they want you to become better.

Learn from the criticism, grow through it, and become better because of it.

6/17/2015 – Cities.

There’s an amazing energy to cities. Towering skyscrapers, people hustling-and-bustling around, and a non-stop aura of energy and motion is everywhere – it’s inspiring. The modern city is a glistening example of how much progress we’ve made as a species. They have their good and bad, but they are a triumph in many shapes and forms.

Your turn

I’m always looking for more inspiration, so tell me, what’s one thing you’re grateful for from the past week? I’ll share a few submissions during next week’s post and intend to keep that going all year long. While I love #ThrowbackThursday, I’d love to see #ThankfulThursday take off too.

The more we can say thanks, the better off we’ll be. Especially because we don’t know if we’ll be able to say “thanks” to those we care about tomorrow or to those who’ve touched us that we’ll never cross paths with again – why wait?