My Gratitude Journal

For the last fifteen years, I have performed a New Year's Tradition that involves reminiscing on the closing year and setting intentions for the coming year. In the final hours of 2018, I established an intention to keep a Gratitude Journal for 2019.

My Gratitude Journal.

At the end of each day in 2019, I reflected on the day's happenings and recorded one thing from that day for which I was grateful. On good days, my gratitude flowed freely. On not-so-good days, I sometimes struggled to find something for which I was grateful. I always found something, though -- even if it was gratitude for waking up to one more morning of life.

My New Year's Tradition

For the last ten years, I've been partaking in a special New Year's tradition. The tradition doesn't involve fireworks, staying up past midnight, or half-hearted resolutions. Instead, my tradition involves retrospection, letting go of the past, and setting intentions for the future.

While I'm generally not one who celebrates holidays, I appreciate the changing of the year as an arbitrary time to examine my life. Near the end of every year and before the beginning of the next, I set aside uninterrupted time, pour myself a warm cup of tea, and settle into a comfy chair under a cozy blanket. I have with me a writing utensil and two sheets of paper -- one is labeled with the current year and the other with the upcoming year.