Release your sense of frustration and loss

I started a blessings board this morning. It’s a more specific version of the gratitude board I did last year; taking it to the next level. I do the boards because gratitude journals usually get lost in the pile of books by my bed and not used very regularly. Then I feel inadequate and flawed, when it was really  just one too many journals to keep.

Here’s how you can create a gratitude board. I did this in my darkest days, when I was struggling to find something to hold on to, and it helped. I hope it helps you too.

1. Get a big piece of paper. This morning I used one of the pages from a presentation tablet. You know, the ones you see in meetings on the easels. Last year I taped together several pieces of paper to create a very big piece.
2. Post it on your kitchen door, refrigerator, or any highly visible place you pass frequently.
3. Keep markers nearby (a variety of colors keeps it cheerful and fun.)
4. Anytime you feel grateful write it down. Anytime. Nothing is too small to be included on the list. The senses are a good place to start (i.e. the smell of baking bread, a spectacular sunset, etc.) If you are at all grateful, write it down.

Whenever I passed the door it became a prompt to think of something to add. When I was feeling life held nothing for me anymore, it was there as a reminder of all the good things in my life, all the blessings, all the little joys. There were often stretches when I read it more than wrote on it. That’s OK, it really helped keep me from giving up, encouraged me to keep trying. It reminded me life wasn’t all bad, that there were many things about it I loved. Before very long my door was covered with happy things, in cheerful colors, that lifted my spirits. Soon it wasn’t such a struggle to think of things to add.

Photo: Karon Tripp

The difference between the gratitude board and the blessing board is that the blessing board is specific to me (or you.) For example on the gratitude board I would write vibrant fall leaves. On the blessing board I would write my eyesight. The vibrant fall leaves are something I was grateful for, and I am blessed to have the eyesight to see and enjoy the vibrant fall leaves. I am grateful for the generosity of strangers. I was blessed by the stranger in the grocery line who offered to help me out when I was $1.50 short.

This could all be done on one glorious board. However, I tend to think of it as step one and step two. Crawl before you walk. The blessings are easy to recognize when you’ve already filled a door with things you are grateful for. It’s taking it to the next level.

They also serve two different purposes in my life. Last year the gratitude board helped me see life wasn’t all black and gave me something to hold on to, a toe hold to climb out of the black hole of grief and depression.

The blessing board is to help me get through the 1 ½ pages of fears I wrote down last night. It’s a reminder this isn’t all capricious fate or up to me alone. It is to serve as a reminder that God provides for me, often in unexpected and delightful ways, and isn’t going to abandon me now.