My very first gratitude journal entry led me on a path of continued practice, and all because of the unexpected gift I received decades after it was written.
The date was July 8, 1996, and I was standing on the pier with my boyfriend. We had come out to the lake that evening to watch the sunset and witnessed the sky turning a dozen different shades of purple, orange, and pink. The clouds were hanging low and circling down around us, as if to ready to grab hold and lift us up for a closer look. The view was breathtaking.
Just when I thought we had experienced all there was to taste of Heaven, Jerry pointed excitedly at the sky and said, “Look at the raindrops!” Not understanding what he meant, I turned to face where the sun had rendered the clouds almost see-through and saw what looked like tears.
Like a camera capturing everything in slow motion, they seemed to be falling one at a time. You could pick one out, name it, and move towards it… waiting for the moment it touched you. I thought one had fallen into my eye, but then I recognized it as my own tear. I was so grateful in that moment to be witnessing this gift from God that my own tears were falling like rain.
Once the sky opened, these single drops became a sudden downpour and we fled the pier. Running for what seemed like a long time to make it back to camp, we laughed despite being soaked and tired.
Though we never spoke about it, we both knew that what we experienced was not the everyday stuff of life. Many years later, I learned that this special moment, now memorialized in gratitude, could bring lasting benefits.
In the three decades that have passed since that moment on the pier, I’ve stopped and started this journaling practice many times, but in recent years this has become a nightly ritual. The reason is simple: I uncovered this forgotten gratitude gem after finding journals buried deep in my old storage tubs, and I knew I wanted these gifts to continue.
If I was lucky enough, each unique gem I discovered would pay dividends I had not anticipated and that are priceless in what they offer: a loving reminder of life’s multitude of joys and a chance to feel grateful for them all over again.
You may have to sift through many entries before unearthing a gratitude gem, but when you find one you’ll know. Each gem will resonate with you in a way that familiar, everyday reasons for gratitude—such as a good night’s sleep, hot shower, or delicious meal—simply cannot.
It might be the perfect day you wrote about having, when the sun shined its love on you, the wind was at your back, and every minute of your day seemed to fall seamlessly into place. Or the time spent with a special loved one who is no longer here in physical form, a moment where you laughed until you cried.
Or it might be an unexpected gift that had nothing to do with bows and wrapping: A rainbow after a really hard day. Time spent with one of Mother Nature’s creatures that felt like kismet. A stranger whose smile and natural, open-hearted kindness made you feel so extraordinary that you left the encounter wondering if they were native to this planet.
If panning for gold seems like a tedious process, trust that what you find in these gems will be worth the search. They possess the power to touch your heart in a way you never expected. And you will lovingly pat yourself on the back for the sincere effort of putting your grateful moment to paper, thereby allowing your future self to relive its magic weeks, months, or years later.
Gratitude is considered by many to be the cornerstone of well-being. Living gratefully is a skill that, like many things, can be cultivated, and the rewards are both immediate and lasting. For any long-standing practice, gratitude gems are the cherry on top. They offer another chance to be with our feelings of gratitude and to savor each sip like a perfectly aged wine.
When we look for gems, we are thanking the Universe once again for what delighted us, what brought us a feeling of contentment, and of course, what made us grateful. And, since the Universe loves gratitude…with this practice of uncovering and appreciating our forgotten gems we can only expect more to come!
If you don’t have a gratitude practice, consider starting one today. A steady ritual of journaling over time gives you the opportunity to find your own gems. Special moments that you can’t imagine forgetting but somehow did, like raindrops falling one by one from a rainbow-colored sky. A memory that has grown sweeter with time. A gem that sparkles and shines just for you.
