Day 30: 30-Day Gratitude Challenge

It’s been a pleasure writing articles on thankfulness daily.

Thank you for keeping up with me as I went on the gratitude journey in the past month. Now that we’ve come to the end of the 30-Day Gratitude Challenge, I realise that I have merely scratched the surface when it comes to being grateful and acknowledging how blessed I am. 

As outgoing as I sometimes am, it hasn’t been easy reaching out to people, and opening up about my feelings. I will probably come back to you someday with testimonies about how it went, but boy, don’t I have a lot of thank you messages to send! Not only that, this is has been a fantastic journey, and I’m learning to appreciate what I have more than I used to. I’m so glad I could do this.

We’re ALL In this Together!

It’s been a pleasure writing these articles daily. Sincerely hope that you haven’t come across too many typos, as it’s been a case of writing and publishing, without first going through quality control like most articles. Still, I hope you realise that you too can do this. I didn’t write because my stories were the best; I just found the courage to express my experiences. Would be lovely to hear from you regarding your personal experiences on gratitude.

Here’s a wrap of what we’ve covered in the past 30 days.

​The Top 10 stories have been page marked, click on the links below for the articles.

​Feel free to follow the whole journey from Day 1, every post will lead you to the next. 

Enjoy!

30-Day Gratitude Challenge 

1. Meaning of Gratitude (Popular article)
2. Benefits of Gratitude and Focus on Where I Live
3. Do Not Put Off Living Any Longer (Popular article)
4. A Gratitude Tale Without Pictures
5. Appreciate Who YOU are, What You Have
6. Being Grateful for Every Little Progress Made
7. Famous People - How they’ve Impacted my Journey of Growth
8. Dale Carnegie – Inspirational Quotes on Gratitude
9. A Shoe-Story to Remember
10. Heroes Who Won’t Wear Capes: Father and Figures.
11. Thankful for No Editor deadlines!
12. Letter of Thanks to Two Strangers
13. A Proud Aunt, thanks to a fresh Avengers Endgame Life Lessons by my nephew
14. Neighbourly love and Inspiration to TAKE TIME.
15. Thank God it’s Friday
16. A Birthday Bash to Remember
17. King of my Heart
18. You are what you think!
19. Two Surprises in One Day (Popular article)
20. People, Authority and Power
21. People Who Serve Us: Just Being Grateful 
22. A Letter for Every Reader – Forgiveness and Gratitude (Popular Article)
23. Give Thanks for the Rainy Days
24. Happy Mother’s Day
25. Faith, Clarity and Gratitude.
26. Greed, Selfishness and Entitlement: How Not to Suffocate Gratitude
27. When Helpful Heroes Prop Up High-Fliers
28. Grateful for Day of Rest and Recovery
29. Long Walk to Freedom
30. Recap

I haven’t kept count of the number of words churned in the last 30 days, but I’m reasonably sure it’s somewhere over 30000, on gratitude alone! Have you ever watched a video or read an article about how to achieve something, and felt encouraged to give it a try? You start on the journey full of hope but wonder if it works. I’ve come across comments from people asking if a remedy works, some do respond, while others leave you second guessing. I can tell you that practising gratitude works wonders, and I hope some of my reflections have inspired you.  

A Testimony of Faith!

I’ve learnt that it’s often easier to get motivated about something, but staying consistent is another thing. A lot of the times, we look for quick fixes and forget that it’s taken us so many years to get us to where we are. It takes a lot of time and effort to undo old habits that prevent us from experiencing the best lives possible. I’ve discovered that a lot of the good things we yearn for such as peace, joy and love can only happen if we meet certain conditions in life.

Remember forgiveness? Without forgiveness, it's tough to be grateful.  Personally, forgiveness has been the key to unlocking much potential that I had locked away as a result of my pains and how I used to react. There were times when I could pray and ask God to destroy my enemies, now I pray for them. I’ve learnt to surrender a lot of the battles that I encounter to God. I’ve managed to stay above the waters when people around me thought I’d sink. The more I look back, the more I realise that I am where I am because of faith. 

Conclusion

We could tell each other stories (which is good) and come up with analogies or philosophies, but unless you and I tap into who God is, it’s challenging to sustain and maintain our newly found freedom. I am grateful for the journey so far: for the hard and difficult lessons, and for all the times I served instead of putting myself in a position of importance. Because of that, I became more in tune with other people, struggles, and what makes them special. I never knew that being ‘humbled’ was God’s way of uplifting me.

Pretty sure that one day, I’ll come back to you with substantial evidence that all things work for your good if you put your hope and trust in the Lord. Give thanks, even when you’re facing battles that you don’t understand. Be grateful, even for the smallest things. Remember that someone is praying for what you have right now. There’s a common saying that, “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” I can tell you that practising gratitude will keep many regrets at bay! 

Thank you for reading. 

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