12:34 Gratitude Check

How do you express gratitude? Many often refer to the importance of maintaining an "attitude of gratitude". Those precious, quiet moments when the entire house is still, and everyone in the family is still soundly asleep- I am always most grateful for those sacred times. That's easy. It's incredibly easy to be grateful for the peaceful, loving, joyful goodness of life, but are we also grateful for the lessons learned during trying times that challenge our resilience?

12:34 Gratitude Check

There arise those situations in our lives that are defining moments for us, these moments can make us or break us, and as joyful or painful as these experiences are, we should make a conscious effort to remember to be grateful for the lesson learned within the situation.

Unannounced neighborly visits, a whiny, crying, puking child and there's always the fun of an impromptu household appliance malfunction, none of these events make for any easy day. In the midst of the chaos that ensues, before the hands and jaw begin to clench to the rhythmic beat of the eye twitch- be grateful. There are others that would welcome a visit from a friend, at any time with gratitude. Somewhere there's a person longing to nurture a child, in sickness and in health, with gratitude. Think of those families that would enjoy the convenience of having to overcome your household appliance dilemma, with gratitude.

Here's my daily reminder to take a moment to remember that I have been blessed with so much more than I acknowledge. I have a favorite time of the day, I smile whenever I see 12:34 on a clock. It's silly, but it's true. Whenever I see that the clock is at or near 12:34, I give myself a quick, little gratitude check. I take inventory of where I am, where my family is, all that has been accomplished- simply living and breathing. Again, I can only imagine how silly this may seem, however, it's true. This theory also works well with the very popular 11:11 AM, as well as 11:11 PM. It works for me, and I'm thankful for that, too! Give it a try!

Share your techniques for keeping a healthy measure of gratitude in your life at all times.