Eight years ago, I wanted to quit social media.

During the Presidential campaign that year, I became quite disheartened by posts and commentary on all sides. The day I logged on to delete accounts, I felt inspired to do something to counter all of the negativity instead of running away.

That began my 2012 Thankfulness Campaign. I posted my thankfulness each day and asked others to join me by posting theirs as well.

When the election was over, I stopped my campaign. Not long after, a friend called me asking why I no longer posted daily thankfulness. You see, she was in the middle of an overwhelming life event and said that was the only positive thing in her day. She told me to start posting again and keep posting. That began what I called Thankfulday.

Thankfulday lasted for seven years, until the end of 2019. A friend from college joined me and posted hers every day. A variety of friends and acquaintances occasionally jumped on to post with us. Many times I received phone calls, texts, emails, or in person comments from others telling me how much they looked forward to reading them every day and thinking about their thankfulness. I had no idea most of them even saw the posts.

This discipline of making myself find gratefulness each day (especially on a really hard or bad day) became a wonderful habit. The exercise changed my brain and thought process in positive ways.

The beginning of 2020 brought new projects and deadlines so I ended the Thankfulday posts. I have missed this activity, especially with all we have trudged through this year.

So…I have decided to revive a bit of that intentional thankfulness. I’m now posting Thankful Thursday on Instagram. I would love to have you follow (@drjulieshannon) and join me there – adding your thankfulness! The Bearing Life podcast episode this week is all about thankfulness as well.

We can acknowledge our difficulties and take the steps we need to move through challenges while framing them with a foundational, optimistic stance.

When we focus on the positive, we nurture our spirit and mind. We approach life from a hopeful and expectant mental state.

Happy Friday and hope to see your thankfulness soon!