{"id":1193,"date":"2016-02-01T20:05:56","date_gmt":"2016-02-02T01:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/?p=1193"},"modified":"2016-02-01T20:05:57","modified_gmt":"2016-02-02T01:05:57","slug":"february-the-gratitude-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/2016\/02\/01\/february-the-gratitude-month\/","title":{"rendered":"February: The gratitude month"},"content":{"rendered":"

Midway through Veganuary<\/a>, my month without refined sugar, alcohol or meat of any kind, people started asking me a thought-provoking question: What are you going to do in February?<\/p>\n

\"Card-Hard-The-Subtle-Art-of-Writing-a-Thank-You-Note-MainPhoto\"<\/a>Truth to tell, I looked at the January experiment as a one-and-done proposition.<\/p>\n

But the reality is that going public with my personal initiative created an expectation that the next month would bring a new challenge. Veganuary had become part of my schtick. Traffic on my blog tripled whenever I updated my progress.<\/p>\n

A friend suggested running a mile every day, the pledge for 2016 espoused by\u00a0Facebook <\/a>founder Mark Zuckerberg. Or how about committing to 10,000 steps a day?<\/p>\n

I like both those ideas. But I ultimately decided to take the advice of my friend and neighbor Anne. Every day in\u00a0February, I will write a thank you note expressing my gratitude to an individual who has made a difference in my life.<\/p>\n

No email, no texting. It has to be on paper. And it must be written in my own hand. As a stationery nerd, I see the value in this. And a fountain pen. I am all in.<\/p>\n

I’ve been practicing mindful gratitude since 2008, starting each day with three words: “Thank you, Lord.” In the past year, I’ve established a new habit, adding three specific things I am grateful for that day.<\/p>\n

This regimen was inspired by my friend Susie, who began her trio of thanks when she was able to retire early, thanks to a sweet package from her former employer.<\/p>\n

Coming up with three timely items for the gratitude list is harder than it seems. On most days, Susie says she\u00a0checks one off with a standard thank you: “I am so glad I am not married to Chuck any more.”<\/p>\n

Because I\u00a0overthink, my list often takes longer than\u00a0it should. Are my thoughts germane, reflecting the past 24 hours? Sure, no one can hear me; but am I speaking plainly? And did I miss anything?<\/p>\n

During Veganuary, a standard refrain was expressing thanks for staying on course.<\/p>\n

Today, the first day I am free to indulge in the full spectrum of food and drink, the editor of a glossy wines and spirits magazine contacts me. Can I take on an assignment on tequila cocktails?<\/p>\n

Yes, I can.<\/p>\n

A coincidence? We know better.<\/p>\n

And so I begin February. Even with leap year, I already am wishing there were more than 29 days in the month. Because there are so many people to thank.<\/p>\n

I have delivered my first handwritten note, to my neighbor Anne. Thanks for a great idea!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Midway through Veganuary, my month without refined sugar, alcohol or meat of any kind, people started asking me a thought-provoking question: What are you going to do in February? Truth to tell, I looked at the January experiment as a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[33],"tags":[629,626,627,628,537,630],"class_list":["post-1193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-go","tag-facebook","tag-february","tag-gratitude","tag-thank-you","tag-veganuary","tag-zuckerberg"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2zjZK-jf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1193"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1196,"href":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1193\/revisions\/1196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithreports.com\/eatshopgo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}