Greetings friends! I’m so excited that you have chosen to enter into this twenty-one-day gratitude challenge. What better way to approach this season of Thanksgiving than to intentionally cultivate a heart of gratitude. This challenge is adapted from a wonderful book entitled Gratitude Works by Robert A. Emmons.
The heart of the challenge is the practice of keeping a gratitude journal. The hope is that you will develop habits over these twenty-one days that extend beyond the challenge into daily life. In the pages that follow, you will find seven separate sets of exercises, one for each day of the week for the next three weeks. Over the next twenty-one days, the challenge is that you complete each gratitude exercise three different times in your journal. Try them all even if you discover that some practices work better for you. You’ll want to buy a notebook or journal to write your entries.
As you cycle through the exercises each week, you should make sure each time through that you vary what you write about. For example, in the gratitude letter, choose three different people on those three days. Set aside around 10 minutes to write your entry each day. Even if you don’t think you have anything interesting to say, honor that commitment and write something. Becoming more grateful is an exercise in training one’s mind and heart. As with anything, gratitude training requires practice. But the rewards of cultivating a more grateful heart are priceless. A thankful heart prepares the way for God to move in our lives, often in ways we do not anticipate.
The heart of the challenge is the practice of keeping a gratitude journal. The hope is that you will develop habits over these twenty-one days that extend beyond the challenge into daily life. In the pages that follow, you will find seven separate sets of exercises, one for each day of the week for the next three weeks. Over the next twenty-one days, the challenge is that you complete each gratitude exercise three different times in your journal. Try them all even if you discover that some practices work better for you. You’ll want to buy a notebook or journal to write your entries.
As you cycle through the exercises each week, you should make sure each time through that you vary what you write about. For example, in the gratitude letter, choose three different people on those three days. Set aside around 10 minutes to write your entry each day. Even if you don’t think you have anything interesting to say, honor that commitment and write something. Becoming more grateful is an exercise in training one’s mind and heart. As with anything, gratitude training requires practice. But the rewards of cultivating a more grateful heart are priceless. A thankful heart prepares the way for God to move in our lives, often in ways we do not anticipate.