Last year we started a new tradition, a Gratitude Jar. Throughout the year we stuffed different bits and pieces inside the jar with the intention of opening it on New Year’s Eve. That didn’t happen. But we did open it one afternoon in early January.
The idea was to remember all the good times we had shared the previous twelve months. It was a lot of fun to sit down together and go through it. Race bibs from the first ever 5km race my husband and son ran. The coaster my son’s alcoholic beverage sat on on his 19th birthday (legal drinking age here). My daughter’s campground maps. The receipt from my Donald Maass writing workshop. Etc, etc, etc.
Now it’s empty and sitting on the counter waiting to be filled with another year of memories.
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Melody Beattie
What was one of your favorite experiences from 2013?
I read this yesterday and your comment over on my blog reminded me I hadn’t commented – this is awesome, Karyn! I love the idea – and got choked up when I read some of your 2013 highlights. I love that it’s simply a matter of putting something in – you don’t have to write it out (which tends to be put on a back burner)! I may have to do something similar this year!!
And fabulous quote!
Thanks Janet! It was a lot of fun remembering to collect the things and once it became a habit it was easy. It was so much fun to unpack the jar with all of us there. 2013 held some good times! You should definitely try it! So worth it.