At the beginning of the year I had a phone conversation with my 86-year-old mother. “I was reading,” she said, “if you write down one thing you are truly thankful for from each individual day, after three to four months you actually become a happier person.”

Many blessings go by unnoticed because we don’t take the time to reflect or to recall or in any way to remember the hours of our day and the specific blessings that have attended them. As my mom and I chatted, I thought she had made a good suggestion: one item of thankfulness per day was doable. So beginning January 1st I began listing the one thing I was truly thankful for each day. Instead of letting it slip past me unnoticed, I sat up and took notice.

Three weeks into my “thankful” experiment I have found some interesting processes taking place. I have found my awareness of things to be thankful for increasing. I have found that I am able to remember my many blessings much better. And I have found I’m beginning to look for blessings ahead of time.

I have found my awareness of things to be thankful for increasing. Each evening I pause and review my day in order to choose the one thing I am truly thankful for. This has increased my awareness of the many, many daily blessings in my life. I didn’t notice these things before. I knew I had much to be thankful for, but somehow they zoomed past me or I zoomed past them without a thought. Now the act of reviewing and writing down a thanksgiving increases my awareness of the multiple delights tucked around the corners of my common days.

I have found that I am able to remember my many blessings much better. By writing down and reviewing them, my abbreviated list of blessings bring back to mind the details of the particular days in which I received them. My thankfulness list is able to bring back to me, vividly sometimes, the memory of each individual day complete with impressions of sight and sound and smell to enhance the memory. I am able to “re-live” the blessing and a once transient thankfulness is super-charged into a memory that can lift the spirit again and again.

I have found I’m beginning to look for blessings ahead of time. Instead of waiting for the end of the day to remember something to be thankful for, I find my mind “noticing” throughout the day. Right in the moment I am seeing more, hearing more, and acknowledging the blessings more.

I didn’t expect these results. By writing down one thing for which I’m truly thankful I’m finding many things to be thankful for. So here is my list (some days I had more than one):

~ new smart phones ~ a hike with Daddy ~ Norwegian pancakes for breakfast ~ my daughters texting emojis back and forth from the front seat of the car to the back seat of the car on the way to symphony rehearsal ~my husband graciously leaving a screening of the new Star Wars movie because the large screen was bothering my eyes ~ a glorious downpour of rain that filled our “dry stream bed” and began to float away our trash containers ~ a walk in fresh air ~ the whole house cleaned by my girls ~ groceries purchased ~ cash in my wallet ~ strength to prepare dinner ~ a quiet evening at home ~ Cobb salad for dinner ~ guest Kaitlyn for dinner ~ family at the symphony ~ Kefir! homemade ~ wedding of Daniel and Lily ~ bible and prayer: “Father, I love when I can hear Your voice.” ~ a quiet bible time in the rocking chair ~ fresh flowers and duck down slippers ~ 30 minutes of artwork ~ 30 minutes of writing ~ fresh oranges from our tree ~ light in the bathoom (after replacing 3 bulbs) ~ quiet evening home ~ chat with a friend ~ hot shower ~ Bella Terra Mall ~ Full Moon Sushi ~ Ratatouille for lunch ~ a nap ~ PX: 100% on math bridge ~ MG:  self-taught in sight reading music commended by music teacher ~ time to work on books and blog ~ a morning walk to clear the head ~ an easy and delicious late dinner: baked potatoes with mushrooms, avocados, bacon, sour cream, butter and Parmesan cheese ~ baroque festival and an unexpected appointment with violin coach to counsel strategies to combat tendonitis ~