Giving and Receiving

This past weekend I spent time with my dad.

He's 89 years old and he is a man of strong faith.

I have noticed in our calls and visits since my brother passed, he always ends our conversation with, “I have so much to be thankful for.”

As you might imagine, our calls often consist of reports from doctor visits that monitor ailments from a life of hard work and love of sweet desserts.

When he ends our calls on this hopeful note, it gives me peace because it shows a sense of hope for him.

Since I inherited his love of sweet treats, I hope I also got his gift of gratitude.

Over the years I have included a gratitude practice in my journaling and I do see the benefit of thinking about all of the many blessings in my life.

The simple act of noticing and appreciating them helps me to see them more readily every day.

Last month in our Women-owned Ecommerce Brand (WEB) meeting, one of our members discussed how she was going through a challenging time in her business and she had been doing her gratitude practice. 

It was still very hard, especially as she considered the impact on her family.

I was reminded of a practice for recording our contributions much like the practice of a gratitude journal.

I learned of this from an Insta post by Adam Grant and it made so much sense to me.

Looking for a blessing each day is a passive activity and I know it does improve my happiness; yet I like to feel I make a difference to those around me.

That I contribute to their happiness and make their journey a little easier in some way.

I was excited to learn that one of our WEB members saw the same post from Adam Grant and has been doing the contribution practice for a few months.

She's found it helpful as she navigates the busy world of entrepreneurship and raising a family.

That was enough to get me started and as of today, I am noting my contributions in my journal along with my gratitude entries.

It's such an easy thing to jot down three things that I appreciate and three things that I did to help someone else.

I believe those few moments of focus at the end of the day will profoundly impact my sleep and the next day too.

Want to join me in gratitude?

Let's do this practice together for the next 30 days.

Every night or morning, record 3 things you are grateful for and three things you did to help someone else.

Then let's check in after a month and compare notes.

Please reply and let me know if you want to join me.

I'll check in with you every week to encourage us all to keep going.

Cyndi

P.S. Our Ecommerce Business Performance Assessment is a great way to see where your business is doing great and where it could use some help.

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