This post has been updated to include entries with my responses to the daily gratitude challenge! I hope you enjoy following along!
If you want to join the challenge and grab your free printable gratitude journal, just subscribe using the box below!
To explain the project I’ve been working on and to save y’all a whole lot of reading, I created a video. My first ever vlog!
{{Yep, I tend to make a lot of silly faces when I talk! Sorry about the times I was looking oddly off-camera – there were some people wandering by at the park.}}
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How about you? Are you ready to take the Daily Gratitude Challenge and develop an ‘attitude of gratitude?’ Snag your free printable gratitude journal and get started along with me!
As I say in the video, this printable gratitude journal is absolutely free to everyone who subscribes to The Artisan Life either via email.
If you want to join The Artisan Life, please just use the box below:
Regardless of whether or not you subscribe, I really hope you participate in the Daily Gratitude Challenge. By taking the time to actively practice gratitude each day for a month, you can begin to form a solid habit that can influence your entire way of looking at the world. Please share your answers to writing prompts when I discuss them in future vlogs, especially if you aren’t completing the journal in real life. Putting your responses in writing helps solidify them in your mind and is even more beneficial than just thinking about them! You can also get on Instagram and tag me @natashalhn and use #dailygratitudechallenge. Participating will make you eligible to win this lovely handmade pen: This giveaway ended long ago, but please do tag me, anyway!
Day 2
Instead of being wordless on Wednesday, I’m sharing my response to Day 2 of the Daily Gratitude Challenge!
Yes, I officially decided to just roll with it and let the silly faces come out!
Day 3
It’s Day 3 of the Daily Gratitude Challenge! Instead of embedding today’s video, I’m just leaving a link to it on YouTube.
Yes, our walls are that funny shade of yellow, it isn’t just some major white balance problem. The yellow walls make taking pictures of anything pretty annoying, actually! I’m constantly working to overcome the awkward yellow cast they give basically all photos taken in our apartment.
I promise this won’t be the only thing I write about for the next month! But, life being life, things have been crazy this week. Of course my store was a bit slow while my husband was gone for two weeks. It was kind of nice, really, and I hand plenty of time to work on my yoga teacher training. I did’t have a single order on Sunday, then everything went crazy Monday and Tuesday after he got home! I woke up Wednesday morning to 12 open orders and a very long to-do list. I’m thankful for this orders, but it kept me from writing up anything else to post today! It’s definitely a nice “problem” to have, but hopefully I’ll be able to do a bit more normal blogging next week.
Has your week been busy, too? What’s been taking up your time?
Day 5
Don’t let gratitude take the day off just because it’s the weekend! Feed yourself positive thoughts and enjoy the weekend even more. =)
Click on the image or right here to see the vlog.
I’m sure hoping we can go on not experiencing a few more things this weekend! Let’s continue not experiencing getting bitten by a shark, being attacked by wild animals in general, falling off a cliff, etc. =)
What are you grateful to have not experienced in your life?
Day 8
It’s Day 8 of the Daily Gratitude Challenge! It was so much fun to see everyone’s answers yesterday about where they’d love to visit and I think people will have some neat answers for today’s question, too:
Day 9
Wow – Day 9 already!
This video was another poor day for the yellow walls and white balance. The outdoor light just really wasn’t cooperating and everything turned out looking a little funky! I need to get a mic so I can video outside again…
This question may be a little more difficult for some folks. It can be really hard, especially for us women, to be grateful for our bodies! The media is always telling us we need to be this way or that way or use this product or wear this brand of clothing to feel good about ourselves. Obviously that’s a bunch of nonsense, but it can be a difficult mentality to combat!
So what are you grateful for about your body? Can you turn something you have complained about into something to be grateful for?
Day 11
It’s Day 11 of the Daily Gratitude Challenge!
Even though filming on my phone isn’t optimal, it does allow me to take things outside against a nice, light exterior wall and that’s been really important the last couple of days! We live so close to the windward side of the mountains that almost no day is entirely clear for the whole day.
Today’s question may be a little easier for some people because it asks what you like about the current season. I know a lot of folks like spring, but there are also plenty of things people don’t like (spring cleaning, allergies). Are you someone who doesn’t like spring? What can you find to enjoy and how does it make you feel?
Day 14, 15, 16
I haven’t posted links to my vlogs for a couple of days. If you follow me on YouTube, you may have seen them pop up, but if you don’t you might have thought I was slacking off and giving up on my own challenge!
I’ve really enjoyed seeing everyone’s responses, not only because it’s great to get to know teammates and readers better, but also because it frequently reminds me of even more things to be grateful for! So please keep the responses coming. =) This is a lot of video all at once, so feel free to leave your answers even if you don’t have the time to watch everything all the way through.
What does everyone think? Is the cell phone filming okay? I really do prefer my real camera, but I just can’t get enough light inside with all the rain lately. I can put my phone on a little Gorilla Pod and attach it to the railing outside, but I can’t do that with my DSLR!
Day 17
Today’s writing prompt is a fun and quick one.
What small gesture can you make today that will make a difference to someone else? I really hope my husband doesn’t watch this at work and see what I’m doing, because I’d like to keep it a surprise. =)
Days 18 & 19
I hope everyone is having a great weekend!
I didn’t post a link to yesterday’s vlog, so here it is. The writing prompt asks you to list small gestures others have done for you that really made a difference in your day, so it’s a fun one. =)
Today’s writing prompt asks what technology you are grateful for and how your life might look without it. A lot of us have already listed specific technological devices we’re thankful for, so this is a nice chance to get creative and pick and underlying technology! It’s really easy to take these things (electricity, running water, wireless communication, etc) for granted and just focus on the devices we use to access them, so it’s a nice way to get your creative juices flowing.
I hope you’re having a lovely weekend with some beautiful spring weather!
Day 29
I can’t believe it’s day 29 of the Daily Gratitude Challenge!!! Wow. The past month has flown by, and I think May is going to go even more quickly.
Today’s writing prompt asks you to name a physical locale you’re grateful for and give a few reasons why you love it. I don’t think my answer will surprise anyone!
Speaking of West Virginia…I am having so much fun making lists. Yes, we don’t leave for over three weeks, but I’m already making lists! I’ve been comparison shopping to see what is best to get on Amazon, Lowes, and Home Depot. We like to fly Delta, and right now you can get double SkyMiles (2 for each $1) on purchases made online at Lowes and single SkyMiles (1 for 1) on online purchases at Home Depot. Amazon, of course, doesn’t bring any extra SkyMiles, but sometimes is less expensive and has items that neither home improvement store stocks. Do you see what sort of frequent flier miles or other rewards you can get before making a purchase? Or am I just weird?
Day 30
It’s the next to last day of the Daily Gratitude Challenge! Today’s video is very “real life.” My hair is wet and this morning I’m having some sort of seasonal allergies that has my ears stuffy and my eyes unhappy, so I’m looking kind of rough! Oh well – it happens some days. =)
I hope todays’ writing prompt brings back some happy memories for you as you remember complements people have given you in the past. What complement was particularly impactful to you?
The final day
Wow – can you believe this is day 31 of the Daily Gratitude Challenge? When I came up with the idea, sticking with something for an entire month seemed a little crazy/daunting, but now I can’t believe how quickly everything went.
I saved the trickiest for last with this writing prompt. It asks what difficult parts of your life may contain hidden blessings. This “difficult” thing can be something you’re dealing with now or something from the past you’re still dealing with. The blessings you find absolutely do not have to “outweigh” the difficult aspects – this is about finding things to be grateful for even in tricky situations. Maybe the greatest blessing you can find in a situation is simply that you survived – you’re still going after it and that means you’ve grown stronger – or maybe you can find something else.
Natasha is a former classroom teacher turned WAHM. She also is a registered yoga teacher & holds a certificate in natural skincare formulation from the School of Natural Skincare. She shares her passion for education, positive parenting, free printables, and recipes for DIY bath & home products. Learn more about Natasha and where she’s been featured.
I think an attitude of gratitude is so very important! It can make huge differences to our lives and outlooks that we never could have imagined before.
Good luck with your challenge 🙂
Absolutely! Gratitude makes such a huge difference in your entire life. I’m enjoying my challenge so far and hope other people like following along!
You are so cute! This is a great idea. My sister-in-law got a bunch of family members on board with daily gratitude texting, but I think just about everybody has fallen off the wagon now. Haha. I’ve never been great at doing something every single day, but maybe I could aim for every other day.
Daily gratitude texting? That one would probably just annoy me – I really don’t like group texts! It’s a nice idea, though. It can be hard to remember to do something every day, but it does eventually become habit.