For several years now I have kept a gratitude journal. Each day’s entry is one long run-on sentence that always starts with “Father God, thank you for…” I began this practice during a hard period of my life when I needed to focus on all the blessings around me so I wouldn’t get bogged down by the ick.

I’m holding on tightly to every good thing

Grateful for the blessings you have given to me

Not denying the angst, but knowing there is more

More than the circumstances that I can see

You send me flowers and sunshine

Birdsong and breezes

Friends who hold me close

In their arms and in prayer

Words of affirmation to nourish my soul

Your listening ear for all of my cares

This practice only grew as my situation improved, there were so many more things that I was grateful for. Think about the early days of spring, how good the sun feels on your face when you have been cold and under cloudy days of winter. Or how much better food tastes when you are truly hungry. Going without something makes you appreciate when you finally have it.

Another way that gratitude grows is by slowing down and paying attention. Taking a moment to turn your face to the sun, listening to birdsong, smelling the fresh air after rain. We can’t be grateful for things we don’t notice.

Savor that first sip

Sit quietly and notice

Blessings of the day

In the book Grateful, by Diana Butler Bass, she mentions a poll where people were asked how often they were deeply grateful. Eighty percent of people said they were deeply grateful once a week. The author thought this was too high, that she certainly didn’t feel that and it didn’t seem as though the people around her felt that either. This surprised me. I am honestly deeply grateful every day.

That phrase stuck in my head and I would think it several times a day. I wrote the words on the front of my day planner so I would see them often. Then I thought about how great it would be to have that on a shirt. Then it occurred to me that I could have shirts made like that.

The shirts arrived today and I’m excited about being a gratitude model. My hope is that this will get people thinking of how often they are deeply grateful, that it will spark conversations between friends and make people more aware of the blessings in their lives. Perhaps they too could be deeply grateful every day.

Let us come alive to the splendor that is all around us, and see beauty in ordinary things.

-Thomas Merton