The Gratitude Challenge Day 21

The last day of The Challenge states: Reflect on the 21 days of The Gratitude Challenge and what this process has meant to you.

The whole Challenge was not easy. Of course, that's why it is called a challenge. The Challenge has encouraged me to look on the brighter side of life. I am often pessimistic and focus on all the challenges life has to offer. I enjoyed the Challenge because it helped me to focus on the many blessings that God has given me. It helped me to look at all the positives in my life, instead of focusing on the negatives. I have enjoyed reading all of the comments that my fellow readers have made. It encouraged me along the way to read your words and to realize how hard it was at times and that I was not the only one feeling that way.

I would encourage you each day to focus on the blessings that God has given you. I will end with a song that has been going through my mind all week long: Give thanks with a grateful heart, Give thanks for the Holy One, Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ His Son. And now let the weak say "I am strong." Let the poor say "I am rich." Because of what the Lord has done for us. Give thanks.

The Gratitude Challenge Day 20

Today's challenge states: As The Challenge winds down, write a thank you note to yourself. Thank yourself for taking the time to stop and focus on all the little things for which you feel grateful.

So I'm not sure that I will actually write a thank-you note to myself, but I am glad that I took the time to go through The Gratitude Challenge. To often I think I take things for granted and I tend to focus more on the negative things that are going on in my life. The Challenge encouraged me to look at the positive things in my life.

The Gratitude Challenge Day 19

Today's challenge states: Have confidence in all the choices you have made today and be grateful for being able to believe in yourself.

The Gratitude Challenge Day 18

The challenge for today is: For the past three days, you have focused on appreciating what makes you unique. Write about all the things that make you so lovable. Take a moment to appreciate your personal style, talents, and charm.

The Gratiude Challenge Day 17

Today's challenge is so much easier than day 16. I had trouble with that one, where I was supposed to stand in front of a mirror and focus on five things I love about myself. When I stand in front of a mirror, I tend to notice my flaws more than anything else. But as I was thinking of this challenge, the verse from Psalm 139:14 kept running through my head: I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

The challenge for Day 17 states: Write about something you feel grateful for in your life today.

There are so many things that I am grateful for today. I am grateful that my Heavenly Father loves me unconditionally and loved me enough to send his son to earth to die for my sins. I am grateful that He wants to have a relationship with me. I am grateful for so many blessings that He has given me. I am blessed with a loving, supporting, and encouraging family. I am blessed to have a few close friends who share my faith with me. I am blessed to have a job, a home, and the basic necessities of life. I thank God that my family is healthy and continue to pray for the health of my family. I am grateful that I live in a place where I am not persecuted for my faith and I pray for those who are. I am grateful for the beautiful weather we had today. And I am grateful for all my followers and supporters of my blog.

The Gratitude Challenge Day 16

The challenge for today states: Stand in front of a mirror for five minutes and focus on at least five things that you love about yourself. Write them down in your journal.

The Gratitude Challenge Day 15

Day 15 's Challenge states: Take the time to focus on yourself. Appreciate and give thanks for your unique personality, skills, and talents.

The Gratitude Challenge Day 13 and 14

Day 13: Pick three friends or family members you see regularly. View their actions and gestures through a positive lens, assuming their goodness and witnessing their best intentions.

Day 14: It's been two weeks since you started the Gratitude Challenge. Write about how The Challenge has changed your perspective thus far.


I am blessed with a close family and a few close friends. My family and faith has always been my stronghold. I do not know what I would do without them. My husband always goes above and beyond what is expected. He is always there for me, and loves me through sickness and health. This month in particular has seen a lot of sickness. I feel like I have not felt well the past few weeks. It appears that all types of sicknesses are going around.

I also appreciate my mother. She watches my kids while I am at work, and I know that is not an easy chore. She is always there for me whenever I need her.

I am also appreciative of a few close friends who I know will always be there for me.

The Challenge has not been easy-especially when I am not feeling well. It has taken me a lot longer than fourteen days to get this far. However, I have noticed that it has helped me to look at things in a positive perspective rather than a pessimistic perspective. Last week, a particular incident happened to me that at first made me upset. However, my challenge encouraged me to not worry so much and to look at the glass as half full, and within two days the incident turned itself around. I look forward to the last week of the challenge!

The Gratitude Challenge Day 12

The Gratitude Challenge for Day 12 states: Today make the effort to live life with a positive outlook. Restrain from criticizing the people around you. Dare to see the glass as half full. Listen more than you speak. Give freely of yourself. Practice kindness at every opportunity.

This should be a good challenge for me. I'll tell you today was one of those days where things seemed to go wrong. So I am looking forward to a fresh start tomorrow. I know that I will need God's help to fulfill all parts of this challenge. It may even be one I should focus on for a few days.

The Gratitude Challenge Day 11

The next challenge states: Try to see the world through the eyes of a child. Think about the things you take for granted on a daily basis, and then express gratitude for everything down to the basic necessities that sustain your current life.

Even though this is day 11's challenge, it is one that I plan to focus on through the weekend.

The Gratitude Challenge Day 10

Today's challenge states: Pick one of your five senses to focus on each day. Take note of how many gifts come to you via that single part of entry. Write about this experience.



Even though this is listed as day 10's challenge, it is one that I will think about for the next few days. As I thought about my five senses, I thought about my sense of sight. I must say, I do complain at times that I need to wear glasses and wish I had 20/20 vision, but I am blessed to have the gift of sight. If we really stop to look around us, there are a lot of beautiful things to see! Although summer is my favorite time of year, I love when the trees turn colors in the fall. They are so pretty to look at. I also love to think about how blessed I am to see the beautiful faces of my boys. My boys are very dramatic and their faces show so many different expressions. I love to watch them smile and laugh. And they look so peaceful when I watch them sleep.

Now as the next few days go by, I will try to focus on my other senses.

The Gratitude Challenge Day 9

Today's challenge is: Enjoy the people around you. Take a moment to appreciate their unique talents, abilities and personalities.

The Gratitude Challenge Day 8

The challenge for day 8 states: Send thank-you notes to five people who deserve a little recognition.

I got to tell you, I always put off thank-you notes. I think that they are important, but I always struggle writing them. I try to make sure to write notes for presents given from extended family, friends, and students. So this challenge is really a challenge for me.

In this challenge, I do want to say thank-you for all of my faithful followers and also for the comments that you share. I do appreciate the time you take to read my blog.

To end, I want to share a recent note of recognition that I got on Friday. On Friday, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a note from one of the teachers at the high school in the district where I work. He was starting a new tradition, where he asked each student to pick out "one teacher or school related staff member they feel has had the greatest impact on their life in general or as a student." I was honored to receive this letter with the name of a student listed. Often as a teacher, you hope and wonder have you made a difference in the lives of your students. Many times we may never know. I was very grateful for this uplifting note.

The Gratitude Challenge Day 6 and Day 7

The Challenge for Day 6 is: Take a few minutes to call someone you haven't talked to in a while. Tell them how much you appreciate them.

The Challenge for Day 7 is: Take a picture of one thing, person, place or specific moment that makes you feel grateful. Share it with your social network.

This summer my family went to Disney World. So although I did not take this picture today, the moments spent with my family in Disney make me feel grateful. I loved this family vacation, because I felt like we had uninterrupted time spent together. When we went on our vacation this summer, there was no work, computer, tv, or phones to distract us. This was my children's first time at Disney World, and it gave us the opportunity to see the parks through the eyes of a child. My kids loved the characters. And I got to admit, I enjoyed seeing them and getting pictures with them, myself. My kids ask quite frequently when will we be going back.

To the left is another one of my favorite pictures taken at Disney's Hollywood Studios. That's me in a set getting about 800 gallons of water poured on me. My husband and I volunteered to act out a scene during the Backlot Tour. The purpose of this particular part of the tour, is to show how a battle scene at sea might be filmed.
We were both excited to participate, and they gave me a special suit to wear, so I really didn't get that wet. Overall, we had a lot of fantastic family moments.

The Gratitude Challenge Day 5

This next challenge is a good one for me to do today. It seems like in the past two days little things are going wrong here and there. Yesterday I wasn't able to write any new posts because our internet was down. So here is today's challenge:

Take 5 minutes to write about how grateful you are for all of the wonderful things that you currently have in your life. Don't long for what you don't possess-instead take stock of all of the blessings you already enjoy.

Although I tend to look at the cup as half empty, the things that get me through each day are the many blessings that God has given me. He has provided for all my needs-clothes, food, shelter. He has also blessed me with a wonderful family. All throughout my life I have had a family to encourage me, support me, and always be there for me. I do not know what I would do without my husband, kids, parents, and siblings.

The Gratitude Challenge Day 4

Today's challenge is: Write a short message of thanks for some of the "negative" things in your life.

This is a tough one. When I thought about today's challenge, the verse from Philippians 4:4 came to my mind: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice. Another verse that came to mind was James 1:2-4: Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I guess despite the negatives in my life, the Bible tells us that we should face the trials in our life with joy. I do know that trials always bring us closer to the Lord.

A visiting missionary to my church recently said that God has sovereignly placed us where we are. I need to remember that God is in control of all things and He has given me strength to face some of the "negatives" in my life.

The Gratitude Challenge Day 3

Today's challenge is : Write about something you feel grateful for in your life today.

Well I gotta tell you, when I woke up this morning I did not feel good at all. At my house, my family seems to all be getting hit with different sicknesses. But I can tell you, despite being sick, I can still come up with something that I am grateful for-actually a few things. First of all, I am grateful for a wonderful husband who always helps out and is an excellent father. I am also grateful for my two sons. Today, especially, I am grateful for having alone time. Since I stayed home from work, there is no one around me. I actually have some "me time." Although, there is only so much I can do while I am sick, it is nice to enjoy the quiet moments. That does not happen too often.

The Gratitude Challenge Day 2

Today is my second day of the Gratitude Challenge. I wanted to add that I originally found this 21-day challenge from the blog DigiVickie's Word Art. Today's challenge was not as easy as I thought it would be.

The challenge for day 2 states: Use the alphabet as a fun and quick format for making a list of things for which you feel grateful. Share this list with your social network through email, a blog post, or a Facebook or Myspace page.

Here is my list:

Apples, Abby (my dog)
Blogging
Church
Dvds
Entertainment
Faith, family, and friends
Grace from God, Grandparents
Husband, health
Ice cream
Job
Kids-I love my two kids
Laughter
Motherhood
Notes of thanks
Ocean
Parents
Quiet moments
Rainbows
Siblings, snow days
Trees in the fall
Unconditional love
Vacations with my family
Water
Xerox machine (As a teacher I need lots of copies)
Yogurt
Zippers

The most difficult letters for me were n, o, w, y , and z. Can you think of things that you are grateful for beginning with these letters?

The Gratitude Challenge

Recently I read a post from the blog But Such is Life titled Gratitude Attitude. It really made me think about my own attitude and how I focus a lot on the negatives in my life. If you get a chance, stop by here and read her article about how we need to let God fill our needs. In the same week I came across this website called The Gratitude Challenge. According to the website, The Gratitude Challenge is "a 21-day challenge created to help you take note of the brighter side of life." I thought by focusing more on the blessings that God has given me, it would help me focus on the positives in my life. So I decided that I would take that challenge.

Today is my first day of the challenge and the challenge is "to sign the contract and make a commitment to take note and give thanks for the next 21 days." So here it goes:

THE GRATITUDE PLEDGE
With a hopeful outlook, I,"Deal"ightfully Frugal, promise to fulfill the terms of The Gratitude Challenge. Over the next 21 days, I pledge to complete the activities on my gratitude calendar, including writing journal entries, taking photos and connecting with friends. I promise to take note of life’s little blessings and to give thanks for the relationships, experiences and opportunities that make my life unique. From this day forward, I commit to living on the brighter side of life.

Signature: Date: 10/3/2009