365 Days of Gratitude

When you visit Toronto as a tourist, it is a whole different feeling than when you hustle and work in the city as I do. In July, I did what every new mama would think to do, and spent a day in Toronto with our newborn Blake. Can you sense my sarcasm? Ha!

A crazy idea as a new mom, I know or at least, I thought. But I wanted to take advantage of Blake being a newborn, manageable baby and introduce him to colleagues and friends while taking in a city that has become a staple in my daily routine the past 3 years.

Doing a day trip too by myself with our newborn was also a way to get out of the house and feel independent again. Why not take advantage of public transportation and the sunny summer weather and enjoy a day in the city to surround myself with my old habitat and take in sights that would be new for the babe.

As I wade into the waters of this whole motherhood thing, I’m realizing there are so many small details in our everyday that we do so easily and take for granted. Things that as a new mom, you quickly learn to have a new appreciation for.

Drinking coffee – while holding a newborn in your arms. Getting ready quicker than before – with a newborn (impatiently) waiting. Realizing that not forgetting diapers and wipes is as important now as not forgetting your purse/keys when you leave home.

A day trip to Toronto also quickly reminds you to be grateful for these small details.

My recent trip to Toronto restored my faith in humanity.

It reminded me of the kind gestures that can mean so much to someone, including this new mom. The ladies on the train who offered to help me. The man who helped get our stroller off the train. People on the sidewalk who helped to make it easier to navigate a stroller in the city. Complete strangers smiling when they saw me with the baby. Striking up conversations in checkout lines with people I didn’t know, but who were inquisitive and interested in Blake.

The day trip to the city reminded me of so many little things to be grateful for.

How much I love Toronto. How kind the people are. How revisiting places like the CN Towner, Hockey Hall of Fame and St. Lawrence Market to introduce them to your baby can feel like your experiencing them all over again for the first time. How smiling is such a strong form of communication. How good it feels when a complete stranger smiles at you and you know why. The feeling you get as a new mama when you realize that you CAN and in fact DID navigate the ‘big smoke.’

And does it ever feel good to know that even while navigating the new world of motherhood, a day trip to Toronto can make you feel independent again and remind you that you CAN do anything if you set your mind to it.

Thanks for the time Toronto, we’ll be back again soon.

[Top Photo Source]

I’ve promised for some time I would share more about #365DaysofGratitude, something I’ve committed to do this year (along with #Blog452). These were 2 of the 5 goals I set for 2017 and so far, I’m happy to say its something I’ve stuck to doing every night. Yay to goal-setting AND actually executing as I recently shared in my 2017 Q1 check-in!

Over the Christmas holidays, I happened to stumble upon a Facebook post by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of one of my favourite books Big Magic & the well-known Eat, Pray, Love. She talked about what she called her ‘Happiness Jar’ and it sparked my interest to want to do something similar. The results from something so minimal, free and easy seemed so transformational. The concept is similar to what many authors suggest in keeping a ‘gratitude journal’ where you write down three things you are grateful for each day.

I know, a lot of people after reading something like this think:

Its a nice thought but I don’t really have the time;
I would never stick to doing this everyday;
Why would I write down what I’m happy/grateful for, seems pointless when I KNOW what I’m grateful for.

But for some reason, the idea stuck with me.

It was exactly the constant daily, habitual reminder I needed to appreciate the small things that make up each day that I’ve perhaps neglected over the years. I think its just human nature to worry more about the big ticket items of less trivial meaning and what went wrong/what could have been, rather than what is in our control that makes us happy in a day. That despite the fast-paced world we live in, cherishing the small details along the way is what gets us through life. That, and a positive attitude.

I liked Gilberts’ way of putting one thought in a jar at the end of each day, because I would be able to visually see the results of sticking to it each day as the jar get fuller.

I also loved the simple fact of using bright coloured sticky notes to document my #365DaysofGratitude. Colourful sticky notes always = happiness! 😉

Writing down one simple thing I’m grateful for at the end of each day… or something that has made me laugh, appreciative, happy or feel fortunate for…. has been such a fun exercise since starting on January 1st.

On bad days when I’ve need the boost to see that ‘this too shall pass,’ the daily habit of reflection has provided the retrospect that was so needed in moments like those.

On the good days, it has made me love and appreciate these days even more.

And the best part about using a ‘jar’ is it feels a lot like the passage “my cup runneth over.” Its only April and my jar is already filled, to the point that I may have just underestimated how committed I was going to be to this daily challenge, because I may have bought too small of a jar. A larger jar is an upgrade I am excited to invest in.

Not only has it changed my daily mindset of how to approach things differently in professional and personal settings, I really can’t wait to get to the end of the year now so I can dump out all 365 gratitude notes on my coffee table and read them back to myself. Some I know I’m going to laugh at; others I will cry at for good reason; and I suspect that at the end of the year, I will know what areas of my life I’m routinely grateful for.

This has been one of those goals I’ve loved executing everyday that really, anyone that has access to pen, paper, a jar/box of some type and a commitment to do it everyday, can do.

It is a worthwhile #2017 goal that has had such a profound payoff.. and its only April!