52 Week Gratitude Challenge. Week 1.

Blogging has become a fun little hobby of mine. I enjoy it for many different reasons. One being, it relaxes me and makes me feel more positive about life. Another is having a place to document our memories. A place I wont rip out of a book and destroy after so long. A place that isn't going to get lost or ruined. However, with all the many reason I love to blog, sometimes I can go months without posting. This doesn't always mean I'm not blogging.  Sometimes it means I have unfinished drafts, or drafts I would like to keep for just myself. Other times, the lack of posting is due to lack of ideas. Tonight, as I was scrolling through Pinterest looking for inspiration, I came across a Gratitude Challenge. [There wasn't a link attached to the picture, so I'm sorry I can't give proper credit.] It's a 52 week challenge, which is quite intimidating I have to admit, but I feel like it is something I need to take on. I'm not going to promise I will consistently post once a week, so this challenge may take up the entire rest of my being, but my goal is to simply make it through all 52 topics...eventually. If you are reading this, I encourage you to play along too! Reading others posts would definitely help me stay motivated, just saying! Here are the topics.

1. Why start this challenge?
2. Spouse/ Significant other
3. Family
4. A family member
5. Something someone gave you
6. The city you live in 
7. A friend
8. Express gratitude to 3 people
9. How did you do and feel (?)
10. List 5 things you like about you
11. Someone who inspires you
12. Your favorite personality trait
13. A challenge you've overcome
14. A talent you have
15. Things you like about Spring
16. Simple things in life
17. Something you take for granted
18. The weather
19. Health
20. Another friend
21. Things you like about summer
22. Something you use every day
23. Favorite physical trait
24. A book you learned from
25. Education
26. Someone you've met
27. Favorite spot in your city
28. Your past
29. Your favorite memory
30. Your current age
31. Core value
32. A city you've visited
33. Something you look forward to
34. Things you like about fall
35. Your neighborhood
36. Your home
37. Something you created
38. Music you love
39. Your heritage
40. Greatest accomplishment
41. Hobbies
42. Your favorite possession
43. A mentor / teacher
44. Your favorite holiday
45. What you do for fun
46. Technology
47. Opportunities you've been given
48. Your job
49. Things you like about winter
50. Lessons learned this year
51. 100 things to be thankful for
52. Did this challenge change you?

Alright, let's begin...

Week 1:

Why start this challenge, anyway?

 

When I came across the 52 week gratitude challenge on Pinterest, I thought, "Wow! What an awesome, inspiring idea." It did sound overwhelming committing to a year long challenge, (even though I'm allowing myself longer to finish, if needed) but it instantly felt like something I needed to do.  At times, I can find myself down in the dumps, feeling as though life has plateaued and there isn't improvement upon the horizon. I know this isn't true, so taking on this challenge is really going to help me appreciate the positive things I do have in my life. With some of the topics {mostly the ones about myself}, I'm really going to have to dig deep to appreciate things I don't always take the time to appreciate.  One of the points I'm excited most about is to see how it alters my everyday outlook on life.  There was a time in my life I remember feeling I was such a positive person. I seldom let anything bring me down. I took the tough times in life with a grain of salt, figured out how to resolve the issues to the best of my abilities, then moved on. I am still that way to a point, but somehow I feel like I have become less of this person. I'd like to think I'm still a glass half-full kind of gal, but often times I let the small things in life get to me more than I should.  I have no doubt this challenge is going to help bring back the full-time positive person it feel so refreshing to be.

Here's me [and Drayze] at the beginning of this 52(+) week challenge.
October, 2015 & 26 weeks preggo w/ "brother"