Photo Credit: Sadie Hernandez (sadiediane) on Flickr.
Used unmodified under CC BY 2.0 license.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances…
-1 Thessalonians 5:16-18a (NIV)

Over the last few months, I have become very ungrateful and dissatisfied with events or conditions of my life, even though I am very blessed. Sometimes my bucket list is part of the problem, because I feel like I’m not making progress and I can’t find time to do things on the list. I get jealous of people who are doing their bucket list items, and convince myself that I will never be able to get them done.

In my head, I know that’s not true, but it’s sometimes hard to remember. While progress on my list has been slower than I’d like compared to my idea of a perfect situation, I have had many opportunities to complete or make progress on several things on my list since the start of 2014.

Last October, I added “Write 100 thank you notes in 100 days” to my list. I didn’t want this just to be a project to check off the list, but to have it give me motivation and structure to be more intentional about expressing gratitude. It seems like it is a good time to start this goal, and May 1st will be Day 1 (Aug 8 will be Day 100).

I debated about writing about this at all while it’s in progress, because I really don’t want people to feel like I’m that I’m not genuine/that I’m only writing to them because I want to finish a list item. However, I decided that if it comes up, I will explain the reasoning behind this project, and that I thought this would be a good time to let them know that I am thankful for them. I will write a brief weekly reflection about this goal, and hopefully add some interviews/guest posts of other people who have done or are doing similar things.

Want to join me in this goal of writing 100 thank you notes in 100 days? If you do, please let me know in the comment section below, or by using the contact form. Let’s support each other in intentional gratitude.

Click to read: progress update #1, progress update #2, and the final reflection on this goal.