“Do you spend more time in your day being grateful or ruminating on your problems?”

 
I was sitting at Pei Wei with Samantha and overheard 2 ladies having a conversation. It wasn’t hard to overhear their conversation considering our knees were touching as the tables were so close together. The blonde kept repeating over and over how her husband had left her for another woman and how he ruined her life. The brunette asked her friend if she was ruminating and incapable of moving on. The blonde seemed shocked to hear her friend ask her this question. Then the brunette said, “It’s been 15 years. Don’t you think it’s time to move forward?”

I came home and looked up the word ruminate in the dictionary. I wanted to delve into this word. I was intrigued.
 

Ruminate: Think deeply about something. To chew again what has been chewed and swallowed.

 
The first definition wasn’t too bad – it reminded me more of reflection. Many great things can come from reflecting on our attitudes and choices. But the second definition seemed really unhealthy and heavy. And I’m all about freeing myself from anything heavy including schedules, burdens, unforgiveness, or ungratefulness. I’m deeply focused on building large amounts of margin and gratefulness in my home.

In my journey to learn more about gratitude, here’s what I have learned…
 

Ruminating is exhausting and rarely changes your circumstances.

 
The best medicine for me when I ruminate: Stop and look at what I am grateful for. It’s remarkably simple.

Gratefulness spreads joy and leaves you feeling better. Last weekend I wrote a letter to my daughter’s swim coaches to express my gratitude. It brought tremendous joy to 2 coaches and took me only 10 minutes to write. Again, it was simple and made me very happy.

I have friends who are sick, going through divorces, unemployed, and who have lost their homes. Yes, our circumstances downright stink at times. Let me caution you though that rumination can consume you. Personally, rumination NEVER helped or changed any of my circumstances.

So let’s encourage one another despite our circumstances. This Friday, May 25th,  I am going to do a link up on gratitude. Get this – There are no rules. Simply write a post about gratitude. Here’s some ideas: Write a letter to someone you are grateful for, write a list of 100 things you are grateful for, take pictures of 5 things you are grateful for this week, or paint a picture that reminds you to choose gratefulness. Anything goes.

Have a wonderful day and choose to be grateful.

Blessings sweet friends – Jenny