Years ago, I started a gratitude journal.  I’m quite sure it was Oprah or Sarah Ban Breathnach, the author of Simple Abundance who inspired me (I couldn’t get that into the book, but appreciate it’s premise).   It lasted about two weeks. 

And then: I was out of things to say.  Think about it.  Writing 5 things a day for 7 days a week: that’s a lot of thankful to come up with.

So after I’d listed my kids, my husband, my financial security, my parents, my in-laws, my dog, my health, and my friends, well, the well simply went dry.  But not for long.

Ever the persistent writer, I decided to push through my dry spell.  That’s when it came to me:

I don’t have to be thankful for just the big things in life, little things are just as wonderful.  

So now, as I list my blessings each day I find they are smaller, more specific, but also to me, more real.   So these days my gratitude journal reads a little differently.

I’m thankful for…

The gift of a 15-minute conversation (uninterrupted) with my husband.

A Saturday morning that doesn’t begin before 9:00am.  

My daughter’s persistent desire to understand the world as she asks what would happen if the sun burned out, how long it takes to walk to California, and wonders about the worth of 1957 D Lincoln Wheat Penny.  

Hot tea on a cold fall morning.  

A local gym where I can exercise, and a body that’s healthy enough for me to do so.

Of course I’m thankful for the huge blessings in my life.  But the seemingly insignificant things now also take up space in my heart.  A book that carries me far, far away on a Sunday afternoon, an unexpected text from my daughter away at college, the warmth of my dog lying at my feet while I write this post; these things are not at all insignificant.

Little thing are truly big things; if we can remember this, the well will never run dry. 

May this Thanksgiving, and all your days be blessed with a multitude of little things.