The Good Things Jar; a Tradition of Gratitude

Happy new year!

I welcomed 2014 with a boat-load of abundance + thanks.

Last year we started a Good Things Jar.  This is an uber easy way to weave an attitude of gratitude into your day-to-day life.

Every night before putting Jacob (he's 5) to bed, we'd ask him,

"What was your favorite part of the day?"

"What are you thankful for today?"

And every night we'd jot down what Jacob said, and add a little love note of thanks of our own.

On New Year's Eve we piled on the couch and rummaged through the contents of the jar. Some of my favorites:

: "When I getted to have pictures with the dog tomorrow"

: "Waking up to my kids"

: "When I getted to put Christmas lights on the balcony; that was SO fun!"

: "Waking up to Talia citing 'this little piggy' on my toes" (PS, our little piggies eat tofu)

: "When I did a good job in computer class, and when I ate my sandwich at lunch, and when I watched a movie and when I ate my snack at snack time, and when I saw my teacher"

: "When I getted to get a big pumpkin instead of the one I just picked"

It's the simple things.

We're working on the boy's grammar.

And, only once Jacob said he had nothing to be thankful for - he was mad he didn't get to stay up late :)

Being prompted to jot down little daily love notes helped create a big shift in how I look at things. If I happened to have a particularly crap-tastic day, I ALWAYS found at least one thing I was thankful for.

I'm writing this in January, so you can take advantage of this tradition and get a whole year of bang for your gratitude buck.  Steal it + make it your own.

Use a mason jar, empty spaghetti sauce jar, a shoebox, an empty jug of protein powder, you hunk 0' love you.

Decorate + embellish it however you like, if you like.

Call it what you wish; thank tank, good things jar, tub of thanks, jar of love.

Hugs + tears of gratitude will ensue.