One Amazing Thing

Last year I did something I've never done before. Not one to subscribe to trendy practices like keeping a gratitude journal a la Oprah and Sarah Ban Breathnach (anyone remember that?), I just never could get into the thought of writing down 3 or 5 or 12 things I was grateful for every day. Though I admired those who did, the thought of it just felt like homework. And I've resisted homework ever since being finished with school lo these many years hence. 

But.

Last year I got the notion that it might be a good idea to record those little amazing things that happened day to day, those ordinary miracles that would just pass us by if we didn't capture them somehow. The sound of his voice when he says I love you. The impossible blue of the sky on the first day of spring. The way the ocean smells as you stand small beside it. The smell of cinnamon toast. The things that set your heart to racing and bring your senses to life. Those million little things that let you know that God does indeed exist, and He's got some very cool tricks up His sleeve for those of us who will remember to notice.

And so I spent the year noticing. And recording my findings in a little moleskin notebook I bought for  a dollar. Every day, one thing. One amazing thing. My challenge for myself was to find one a day no matter what. Even on the bad days. Even on the worst days. Even when the last thing I felt like doing was to look for the amazing. I looked anyway. And in the looking, I found.

I looked back through my notebook the other day and found that the amazing elements fell squarely in a few categories-- mostly my family, my friends, and nature. Through the love and support of my family, the awe of getting outdoors, and the little boosters that only friends can bring, I did indeed experience something amazing each and every day. Notably, none of them cost a lot, if anything. Most were free for the finding.

And so my friends as this year kicks off, I invite you to start your own One Amazing Thing project. I will be starting my second year on January 15th, because that's when I started last year. (Sometimes it takes me awhile to get into the swing of things. You too? Glad I'm not the only one!)

If you'd like to do this with me, grab a little notebook (you've got almost a week to find one) and before you go to sleep each night, jot down one amazing thing. Or start your day by recording something from the day before. Some days many things will pour from your pen. Some days you'll sit hunched over the notebook and it'll take a few minutes. But it'll come. I promise it'll come. And this time next year, you'll know in a whole new way just how amazing this life is, and how utterly privileged we all are to get to live it.

And if you'd like to share your amazing things with the rest of us, don't forget to hashtag it so we can all find each other via the various social media outlets: #oneamazingthing