2022 — A Year of Gratitude
An Rx for a happy life
For the past 4 or 5 years, at the end of each year, I’ve chosen a word to focus on in the coming year. This year it will be GRATITUDE. That word popped into my mind after several days of weighing other words when I read John C. Davis’s wonderful story
It seems the perfect word for me for 2022.
If you’ve read my previous stories, you’ll know that gratitude is not something new for me. I’ve thought about and written about it before.
In the fall of 2020, I wrote the acrostic poem “Thanksgiving.”
Over the past two years, I’ve written several Thank You Notes to Readers, the latest of which was in October 2020
Many of you responded to those stories with encouraging claps and comments. Thank you!
Following Tim Maudlin’s template method, I composed a story about Gratitude in August of 2020.
In it, I point out that one of my first stories here on Medium in the fall of 2019 was on Gratitude.
With that history, you may be wondering why I would choose gratitude for my focus in 2022. It seems like old-hat stuff. After all, I’ve been doing that for a couple of years now, and indeed for much longer than that. So how, you might ask will 2022 be different?
In the past, I’ve brushed up against thankfulness many times. In 2022 I plan to make it my focus.
One way is to be more intentional. For example, I’ll read what others have to say about it. My goal is to read one new author each day to see how they express gratitude. I’ll do that starting now!
One story that I just came across is
In it, Talia Cirangle tells of her friend Sami’s battle with cancer and how she set a gratitude alarm for 8:00 PM every night. When the alarm went off, Sami would pause and think of something she was grateful for. She did that even on her toughest days. If she can, I can too.
The following article by Justin C Scott mentions a study was done that showed some of the benefits of being grateful.
And of course, if you need encouragement, read any of the wonderful posts in Thank You Notes that Trista Signe Ainsworth hosts. Her writers find plenty to be grateful for. She also publishes an encouraging newsletter with prompts to tickle your writing fancy.
Kristen Meinzer in her excellent article on gratitude in Forge concludes with this statement
“And for me, giving thanks each day made truly tough times more bearable. For that, I’m thankful.”
The title of Kristen’s article says it all: “Practicing Gratitude Is Self-Help Advice That Actually Works.”
As I will explain in a minute, I need to focus on gratitude this year more than ever. It would be too easy to whip up a pity party and dive into a deep depression, something I’ve done before and don’t want to revisit ever again.
A book I often use in my morning meditations is M. J. Ryan’s Attitudes of Gratitude: How to Give and Receive Joy Every Day of Your Life. Gratitude is the secret to a joyful life. The more grateful we are the more joy we’ll feel.
The Bible advises us to
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances” ~ Holy Bible, NIV (1 Thess 5:16–18)
To rejoice, pray, and be thankful is built into our DNA, though often we forget and, as a friend said, we wander off into the weeds of life. We get bogged down and temporarily lose our way. Taking a moment to think about and be thankful for something so simple as taking a breath, as John Davis points out, can restore us. There is always something we can be grateful for.
Though I did not know it would connect with my word for 2022, a couple of weeks ago I did something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time. I made and printed out a Gratitude List. On it are 50 things I’m grateful for. In the coming year, I plan to review and add to that list. For now, it includes things like
- Faith
- Family
- Friends
- Health
- And life itself.
After reading John Davis’s story, I’ve added Breath.
Above all, I need to remember the 11th Commandment. What’s that, you ask?
“Thou shall not take thyself so darned seriously.”
In other words, LIGHTEN UP!
Being the serious bloke that I am, I must remind myself of that and remember that laughter truly is the best medicine.
To help me do that, I’ll remember “Dr. Happy,” aka Dr. Dale L Anderson, MD. A staunch proponent of laughter, Dr. Anderson prescribes “a belly laugh of 15 seconds, twice per day” for good health and success in life. Furthermore, he says, that even if it is fake laughter, it works to improve our body chemistry, which makes us happy, healthy, and even successful.
You can learn more about Dr. Anderson and his approach to laughter as medicine at his website
where he connects health with happiness and shows us how to form and strengthen the health-happiness bond with laughter. (By the way, the TEDx talk at the above site website was filmed in the community next door to ours.)
In 2022 I will be reviewing my Gratitude List, adding to it as I go, and looking for things to rejoice over, pray about, and laugh about. If I can remember to do that every day, I’ve got a feeling 2022 will be a mighty fine year.
Lest you think I’m putting on the rose-colored glasses, I know that 2022 will have plenty to pull me down. As I write this our daughter is in the hospital undergoing a third round of chemo for her lymphoma. This comes after two years of remission.
For her sake, I need to keep positive and be grateful for the doctors, nurses, and staff who are treating her. She will likely spend her 52nd birthday in the hospital undergoing further treatment. Thankfully, though she lives in a city 5 hours away, she has a good support system of caring people around her.
Our daughter is a trooper and her spirits are good. We pray the chemo and other treatments will be effective this time and totally wipe out cancer. In the meantime, we will remain positive and encourage her to do likewise.
Who knows what else the year will throw at us? Regardless, with grateful hearts, we will rejoice, pray and give thanks. Each day truly is “a day the Lord has made, . . .[and we will] rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)
Each day is a gift of 86,400 seconds. My plan for 2022 is to not waste even one of them with feeling down or sorry for myself. I will do my best to keep my spirits up and encourage others to do likewise.
Dear friends, I hope 2022 proves to be an excellent year for you, a year in which you reach your goals or make good progress toward them. May you realize your dreams.
And remember that prescription for a happy life:
- Rejoice
- Pray
- Give thanks
- And LAUGH!
My resolution for 2022 is to do those four things every day first thing in the morning and last thing at night. I’ll also set that Gratitude Alarm. Will you join me?
Happy Reading, Writing, Connecting, and Rejoicing in 2022