To kick off 2010, I downloaded the Gratitude Journal iPhone app. The aim is to log in 5 things every day for which I am grateful. I did well with it as I worked through my PPD. I even added a photograph to each entry (these were almost always of Jax). The app invites you to rate your day, which was helpful for me because it gave me the opportunity to think about my day in terms of "Ok, how bad was it really?" I don't think I ever rated it lower than 3 stars out of 5, even on the days I thought were pretty bad. So, it kind of put things in perspective for me.

But then I stopped regularly logging my gratitude, sometime this summer. I simply got busy and forgot about it. This morning while "cleaning up" my apps, I opened the Gratitude Journal again. I wanted to see what things I was grateful for 6 months ago today, just out of curiosity. I hadn't posted on May 17, but I'll share with you what I posted on May 15 instead, which apparently was a 4-star day:

• Jackson's progress sleeping in his crib--3 hour stretches are the usual now!
• Playdate with [a friend] and the boys
• Sunny day!
• Ice cream!
• I didn't have to cook for the second day in a row!
• Shopping trip!

Here's my photo that day:

In the spirit of Thanksgiving next week, I've decided to start using the Gratitude Journal app again and logging in the 5+ things I'm grateful for each and every day for a month. It really helps put things in perspective and serves as a ready reminder to be grateful for everything I have and not take it for granted. For instance, it's funny to me now that I wrote how grateful I was for Jax sleeping 3 straight hours in his crib. When he sleeps 3 hours straight these days, I consider that a bad night. Maybe this little reminder of just how bad things used to be will help me get through this teething/bad sleeping spell we're currently in!

The other day, I read a review of 365 Thank Yous by John Kralik the other day in some magazine, I forget which. The concept really appeals to me, and someday I may try it myself: writing 365 thank-you notes in the coming year, one per day, to anyone and everyone. The only downside, in my case, is mailing them out. I'm still sitting on a pile of thank you notes, already written and just waiting to be addressed/stamped, from Jackson's birthday party--in August! (Sorry friends & family. I suck. I know this.)

Do you have a gratitude journal or other method to give thanks regularly? Please share!

Also published on James & Jax