The fact that today is November 1st seems totally surreal. It seems like it was just September 1st and I was moving to a new apartment. Does anyone else feel as if the past 2 months were a total blur?!
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Here’s a recap of some of the best things I’ve done so far this fall
Documented the last mile of the Boston Marathon in pictures
PR’ed in the Wicked Half Marathon!
Took lots of long walks around Boston
Went to a few BC football games
Decided that food journaling on the blog was not for me
Discovered that our empty dining room makes a great yoga studio
Went home (again) to watch my brother race
Registered for the 2011 Boston Marathon
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And some of the best things I’ve made
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It’s fun to look back on those fun things 
I hope you all had a nice Halloween yesterday! I’m a bum and didn’t really do anything, besides yoga and a lot of work.
We did not get a single trick-or-treater! What a bummer. But we do know that crushed up candy makes for a great ice cream topping.
This morning started off with a yummy bowl of oatmeal
- 1/3 c. steel cut oats
- 1 c. water
- 1/3 c. milk
- 1 banana
- ground flax
- cinnamon, nutmeg, stevia, pinch salt
- topped with lots of Teddie PB & Pumpkin flax granola
I love it when granola is on sale at the store – this pumpkin variety was pretty awesome
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Since it is November, the month of Thanksgiving and therefore the perfect time to remind myself of what I am thankful for in my life, I am going to jump on Julie‘s bandwagon and participate in my own version of 25 Days of the Little Things. (She has a really cute idea for writing down and storing her 25 things! Check it out).
The November Gratitude Project
I have briefly discussed the importance of gratitude in my life before, but I want to elaborate a bit.
I took at positive psychology class my senior year of college, in which we learned that gratitude is the number 1 correlate with happiness, meaning that people who are the most grateful and appreciative of what they have are the happiest. Wealth, on the other hand, does not correlate with happiness, beyond having the very basic needs (food, shelter) met.
Okay, nothing earth shattering there. Cliches like “Money doesn’t buy happiness”, “All that really matters is your health”, and “If you don’t have love, nothing else matters” run rampant in our society.
But how many of us truly live our lives in this way? Taking the proper time everyday to be thankful for our health and our loved ones, and not allowing ourselves to be derailed by things that don’t really matter all that much?
I will be the first to admit that I certainly don’t all the time! But I have been working on this a lot for the past two years.
Unless it comes completely naturally to you (which I’m sure it does to some people), I think having gratitude requires conscious effort and concrete, daily exercises.
Here are some of the daily exercises that help me work on having gratitude:
- Greeting my family/Ben/roommates when I come in the door (or when they come in the door) with a smile, hug, or kiss (as appropriate
). Simply taking the time to acknowledge I haven’t seen the person all day and I’m glad to see them. Even if I’m in a foul mood or had a bad day, smiling or hugging someone and asking how their day was will instantly remind me that the people in my life are so important to me. - Being more mindful of my surroundings – when I’m walking outside, noticing the crisp air, the beautiful trees, the cute dogs being walked – it’s so easy to take nature for granted, but imagine if we were walking around in a complete dump everyday?! It would totally change our perspective.
- Using cue phrases while running – quite often (during a great run when I’m feeling so positive OR during a crappy run when I’m in need of a boost) I will say to myself things like My legs are so strong, I am a great runner, I may be hurting but I am lucky to just be out here doing what I’m doing right now! Phrases like this are an instant reminder that running is a privilege and being in good health is an incredibly amazing gift.
- Stopping myself when I start to freak out over little disappointments or mistakes, like losing a little bit of money, getting put down by a co-worker, or burning a batch of Apple Crisp; take a deep breath, remind myself that in the scheme of things it is not a big deal, learn what I can from the situation and move on to the next moment.
Gratitude is something very important to me. I’ve found that I need to continue to work on it every single day, because I never want to lose sight of what really matters in life, nor do I want to miss out on all of life’s little joys by being constantly stressed and zeroing in on any negative I can find.
I want November to be an especially great month for me, so I am going to find one thing to acknowledge my gratitude of every day this month, starting now.
Day 1 of the November Gratitude Project
Today I am thankful for the Boston subway system. Without it, it would be extremely difficult for me to get to work and enjoy so many different parts of the city
Anyone want to join me for your own gratitude project?
http://therunnerscookie.wordpress.com/2010/09/16/dropping-my-yoga-excuses/
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What a fabulous post. You have really had a banging fall so far! Red sox games (<3 fenway), football, awesome runs, great eats (I still want that Fall Apple Cake) – just awesome. I love the idea of the gratitude project. For me, I really am focusing on not taking things for granted and enjoying every minute. This is a great reminder of all we have to be thankful for.
Sounds like you’ve been busy this fall!
The gratitude project sounds like a good one. I definitely try to remind myself of how fortunate I am, but I am also prone to get anxious over how much I have to do, how little time I have, how things are going wrong, etc. Thanks for the wonderful reminder to keep it in perspective!
I like the idea of the gratitude project! They are such simple things to do, but they definitely impact your day, people around you, and how you feel about yourself.
I would like think that most people are gracious to others, it is treating yourself the same way that can be a challenge. But I have noticed that treating yourself the same way makes a big difference.
I agree I can’t believe its already November, I just saw that the red cup returns to sbux tomorrow! eek!!! I love the gratitude project! It’s so hard to sometimes stop the craziness of each day and think about whats good!
Today I am thankful for having such and amazing loving partner in life, two months into living together I know boyfriend and I will share a lifetime of love and laughs. I am so grateful to have someone who no matter my mood, no matter my day, can always bring a smile to my face and a sense of calm to my well being!
I love the gratitude project!
I feel that most days I really do take the time to look around and reflect on how incredibly blessed I am. I am a super emotional nut though, so it’s in my nature to be gushy at all times.
PS- I always get up to greet Hubbs when he comes home. It’s something we all did growing up when my dad got home and I think it’s such an important, loving thing to do
I love your gratitude project!! I am in!!
Love this! I am doing something very similar with my 25 Days of the Little Things–great minds think alike!
I do November gratitude month, too. I like trying to see the things around me in a new light.
Same here – very important sometimes to stop life’s craziness and reevaluate
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