✨The Dos✨ The Gratitude 10

In which I reclaim a practice I made up to help someone else

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A while back, I made up a thing called The Gratitude 10. My then-partner was going through a particularly difficult time, and I thought introducing more gratitude might help alleviate stress.

It was a simple practice — just an email entitled, “Gratitude 10,” in which we sent each other a list of ten things we were grateful for at that very moment. Amid a hard season, it was a way to acknowledge the good things around us and in each other. I recently re-read the thread, and it’s an incredible capsule of the best of that time.

I listed things like “Sleeping well” and “Getting stuff done today,” but the practice of stretching my list to 10 items also pushed me to be more specific. Some stuff I listed in the dozens of back-and-forth emails:

• New wooden salt bowl I bought yesterday

• Sunshine in the living room during the day

• A sweet text this morning from Karen about a passage of my writing she loved

There was something so simple and delightful about this practice. It was a thing we did for ourselves, yet knowingly, a practice meant to lift us both up. Getting his emails made me happy — because it’s wonderful to see the world through the eyes of someone you love. It’s perhaps even more powerful to see their Gratitude 10 when things aren’t going their way.

This year, during my own hard time, I subconsciously started jotting down a list of ten things I’m grateful for in my journal, often in the morning after meditating or at night before bed. I didn’t even notice I was doing it, but I’d reclaimed the Gratitude 10. I was making my list, trying to keep the emotional boats afloat, looking for the good when things felt bad.

Never-before-seen footage of my actual journal, lol.

Gratitude has been shown to have psychological, social and physical benefits. It’s a natural antidepressant that releases dopamine and serotonin in our brains, rewiring us toward the positive.

For me, the Gratitude 10 is a way to “turn the mind,” as my therapist would say. It’s typically not one thing that gets me out of a funk. It’s a combo pack — a Gratitude 10 here, a good sweat, a chat with Mom, a walk with my dog. While the recipe varies depending on the circumstance, I’ve found consciously cultivating gratitude to be an important part of feeling good and like myself.

This weekend, I’ve been feeling that “in a funk” feeling. You know the one — the natural low at the end of a vacation or holiday. So without further ado, a Gratitude 10… right now, in this very moment.

Gratitude 10

1. Priya’s book arrived!!!

2. Matilda feeling better

3. Beet powder for smoothies

4. Walk with Dad last night

5. Orange sunflowers

6. Good conversation with Whit

7. Listening to myself this morning

8. Clean apartment

9. New phone coming tomorrow

10. Dinner with fam tonight

Thank you, so very much, for being here. If you try out the Gratitude 10 on your own or with someone else, I’d love to hear it.

Dos ✌️