My niece gave me one last year for Christmas yet I failed miserably at adding to it. I may have added 10 notes and then petered off. No bueno.
So when I saw this particular article, I thought I'd give it another go. One thing that really stood out to me was that the author suggested getting a "Big A _ _ Jar." I loved that! The bigger the jar, the more I will be inspired to fill it up.
So yesterday I headed off to Michael's with a mason jar in mind. When I arrived, I was challenged by a variety of jars to choose from when it came to shape and size. Who knew there'd be so many?
My original inclination was to get a standard mason jar that had a slit in the lid so that I could easily slip in my pieces of paper each day. Didn't find one though. Then I saw some larger ROUND jars and thought maybe I'd go with that. Still didn't seem big enough. I kept looking and found this tall RECTANGULAR shaped jar. For a moment I thought, "That's way too big." Then I remembered the jar's purpose, got it and proceeded to head over to the sticker aisle.
At first I was just going to slap a bunch of "thank you" stickers on the jar. But as I walked the sticker aisle I began to envision just how I wanted my jar to look. I wanted to "make it my own" and something that I would look forward to filling each day.
I found a pack of letters in a pretty shade of aqua and knew right away that I had to have those. As much as I love words, I wanted something pretty to add as well. I looked through the beach stickers (y'all know how much I LOVE the beach) but none of them were what I think of when I think of the beach. They were all of beach chairs, and beach balls, etc. I don't equate any of those things to the beach so I kept looking.
Then I spotted it! A lovely pack of BUTTERFLY stickers. PERFECT!
Lately I have developed a fascination with butterflies. The way that they start as lowly little caterpillars and then morph into something stunningly beautiful. That's where I am right now. In the caterpillar phase of my life, waiting for God to metamorphose me into the butterfly that I am to ultimately become.
So while my youngest daughter came over to visit me yesterday, I decorated my jar as she blasted Erykah Badu's "Mixed Tape." She said I just had to hear it.
"Mother...you're not listening."
"I am listening. I'm just working on this while I listen."
"But you're missing the lyrics."
"I'm catching the lyrics."
Then I tell her, "You do know that none of these songs are 'new', right?" Seemed like every song was sampled.
"Well, the beat might not be new, but these lyrics though..."
So, we continued listening as I continued peeling and sticking. I love hanging out with my kiddos any chance I get.
Ok...I know...I digressed.
Anyhoo...as I was labeling my jar it became clear to me why I chose the one that I did. I needed one with four sides so that I could add three very important words...
*FAITH
**HOPE
***LOVE
And one side for "My Gratitude Jar."
Funny how we don't always understand the WHY of something at beginning of a process, yet somewhere within the process the WHY then becomes clear.
All in all I am very pleased with the way it came out. And as I was adding yesterday's "note of gratitude" I realized something else. My jar won't just be filled with things that are directly related to me. For example -- I had a friend who posted yesterday about a bad accident that could have happened to him if just one small part of his circumstance that day had been different. A part of his car's wheel fell off while he was driving about 30 mph. Had he been on the freeway driving at least twice as fast when the part fell off, his situation would have been terribly worse.
As soon as I read what happened, I thanked God and realized that my friend's safety was what I was thankful for that day.
I am also realizing that some days will have more than one note of gratitude. That's pretty FANTASTIC.
So yeah. Even with the losses that have taken place in my life lately, I am well aware that I have much much more to fill the void of what (and who) I no longer have. My gratitude jar will keep me mindful of that as the year progresses, and in the words of William DeVaughn, I will just be thankful for what I've got.
Ok...enough about me. How 'bout you?
Let the DIALOGUE begin: Do you have any visual reminders to help you focus on the positive during times of adversity?
Talk to me!
Til next time...
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