Overthinking

Yesterday, I finished reading a book titled Don't Overthink It. In it, author Anne Bogel shares a story about overthinking whether or not to buy flowers at Trader Joe's (and ultimately regretting her decision not to). Today, I was planning a trip to a different grocery store, but found myself instead at Trader Joe's because my son LOVES that they have baby carts that he can push himself (which is literally the cutest thing ever). 

Right inside the door, I stopped to look at the flowers. I ultimately decided not to buy any because I didn't love the selection they had, even though I do love having fresh cut flowers to brighten up my dreary kitchen. We finished our shopping, and an employee came up to us as we were checking out and offered us free daffodils. I have trouble accepting things for free, so I asked why they were giving away the daffodils. She said the flowers were opening and wouldn't last long and they wanted to "brighten people's day." At which point I realized that I needed to stop overthinking the situation, say thanks for the daffodils, appreciate the kick in the butt from the Universe, and decide not to overthink buying flowers in the future. 

Gratitude journals

As much as I enjoy writing, I have always been terrible at journaling. I probably started at least a dozen diaries and journals growing up, but never kept them up for more than a couple of weeks. Not that that’s bad. I think I mostly started them when I had a lot going on and needed an outlet for expressing myself, and then stopped once I felt like I had my shit figured out. 

A gratitude journal isn't like that. It's a completely different kind of reflection. The purpose of a gratitude journal is to take time at the end of the day and think about the good things that happened in your day and why they happened. It's supposed to help foster mindfulness and create a more positive mindset by making you focus on good things, even if only for a minute.

For example, my journal for today would be:

1.  I got to work in my garden because we have a lot of outdoor space and the sun was shining.
2.  My toddler and I had delicious donuts for breakfast because he wanted to bake with me this morning.
3.  I took time to write because I'm trying to make myself a priority.

What is mindfulness, and why is it important?

Mindfulness is simply being present. To be mindful, put down your phone, turn off the tv, and give your full attention to whatever it is that you're doing. It's about paying attention to your surroundings so you can appreciate and enjoy the things in your life.

Mindfulness can also mean playing music and having a dance party while you put away laundry. Or turning gardening into an impromptu biology lesson. Or giving your whole self to a good snuggle--what could possibly be better than that?

By devoting your attention to the task at hand, you can make an effort to make it more enjoyable. You can also get even more benefit from being mindful by combining it with starting a gratitude journal.