Recently, I received a message from someone who stated to me that there was nothing in life worth living for. I was shocked. How could this person think that? Life is filled with so many glorious things. Yet, the message also brought me back to a time when I was sad, lost and wandering. Life and its challenges seemed oppressive to me. I wondered how I would ever survive each challenge. That is when the most remarkable thing happened. A gratitude journal.
It started simple. I began by writing down five things each day for which I was grateful. My goal was to write down five different things each day. The first few days didn’t take much effort as I wrote down the names of my family members. But eventually, I ran out of family members and had to start really thinking. I noticed things. I saw things differently.
As we drove up the hill to go home one evening, I noticed all of the wildflowers growing along the side of the road. Now, I had a lot of time to really look at them because our little car, a Chevrolet Nova, was quite old and would barely make it up the hill. I became grateful for those little flowers and thought less about the old worn out car which had typified my life as well as my attitude. I was grateful that I had a roof over my head. I was grateful for the gospel in my life. I was even grateful for the little car which provided me more time to observe the wild flowers.
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By Tracy Atkinson
Tracy Atkinson, mother of six, lives in the Midwest with her husband. She is a teacher, having taught elementary school to higher education, holding degrees in elementary education and a master’s in higher education. Her passion is researching, studying and investigating the attributes related to self-directed learners. She has published several titles, including The Art of Learning Journals, Calais: The Annals of the Hidden, Lemosa: The Annals of the Hidden, Book Two, Rachel’s 8 and Securing Your Tent. She is currently working on a non-fiction text exploring the attributes of self-directed learners: The Five Characteristics of Self-directed Learners.
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