November is Gratitude month. If you’ve been on Facebook at all recently, you may have seen your friends’ gratitude posts. These conscientious friends are participating in an experiment put together by The Grateful Planet Facebook Page.

To participate in the experience is simple. Each day in November, publicly state one thing in your life for which you feel grateful. According to NationalCalendarDay.com “Gratitude’s amazing powers have the ability to shift us from focusing on the negative to appreciating what is positive in our lives.”

Even my page a day calendar chimed in on the topic of gratitude this month!

I haven’t been playing along on a daily basis, but on the eve of the day our country gives thanks, I find myself truly grateful for a lot of things.

One year ago today I was drafting a piece I titled Roadkill. My life was ugly and messy and unhappy. As I sit here today I couldn’t be further from that place if I woke up and found myself suddenly in Timbuktu. To celebrate, I am shouting out my gratitude one blessing at a time, one for each day in November.

Chances are, if you are reading this, you may find yourself among the list. So, let me start by saying thank you, for reading, for being a part of my writing life. For you, I am grateful.

People

The people in my life are my most obvious gifts, and so I’ll be publicly grateful to them first.

#2 I am grateful to be married to my number one cheerleader. I am thankful for the support he gives me on this new career adventure.

#3 I am grateful for my boys, who believe wholeheartedly that I am an author Rockstar. They tell most people we meet that I am an author and at book signings I have to remind them not to raise their hand during the visiting author’s presentation to tell them that I also write books.

#4 I am grateful for my parents and the unconditional love and support they constantly throw my way. However, I am even more grateful for the habits of discipline and hard work they instilled in me.

#5 I am grateful for my high school friend, Sarah. We still talk weekly and often about writing. I am grateful we share a common interest that takes our friendship to new depths and levels.

#6 I am grateful to Abby, my publisher, for her belief in my story and for making my traditional publishing dream come true. I am also grateful for her editorial eye and for her desire to make my book the best it can possibly be.

#7 I am grateful to writing rockstars who share their hard-earned wisdom with me. Kristen Kieffer, Hope Clark, Angela Ackerman, Becca Puglisi, and Kate Messner. For your kindness, generosity and for the wonderful example you make for our the greater writing community, I am truly grateful.

The Big Things

#8 I am grateful for my education. I realize that not everyone in the world, and not even everyone in our country is granted the gift of high-quality education. I am blessed to have been allowed to attend, financially able to pursue, and mentally capable of achieving my degrees.

#9 I am grateful to live in a country in which I will not be persecuted for my words. I can share my thoughts without fear of jeopardizing my life, for this I am grateful.

#10 I am grateful to writing organizations. To WWInk and SCBWI, for the resources you share, for the events that you plan, and for the camaraderie that you promote, Thank you. I am truly grateful.

#11 To my critique group! I look forward to our bi-monthly meetings like nothing else, and for you, my literary friends and my sounding board, I am truly grateful.

#12 I am grateful for the collaborations in my life. For Colleen and Jen, for the projects you invite me to join and adventures we take together, I am grateful.

#13 I am grateful I have been given the opportunity to work part time at Western Technical College. This friendly work environment provides me a pay check, great people to work with, and a schedule that grants me extended writing time each day.

#14 I am grateful God has given me a creative brain that loves to invent stories.

#15 I am grateful I dream BIG dreams.

The Little Things

#16 I am grateful for coffee shops. Their space and caffeine fuel me in wonderful ways. I am especially fond of and grateful for Grounded Specialty in La Crosse, my new favorite out-of-the-house working space.

#17 To trees, those oxygen and paper giving wonders, I am grateful.

#18 Diet Pepsi. You make me happy, wakeful, and productive. I am grateful.

#19 I am grateful for beta readers and their willingness to read my rough work and help me make it better.

#20 I am grateful for Amazon reviews. These tiny pieces of feedback help propel my books to new visibility levels online, and also convince others to give my books a try.

#21 My dad gave me an electric fireplace. As I write in the winter, it warms my office space and allows me to type without frozen fingers. Thanks dad! I am grateful!

#22 Sometimes when I wake up in the morning, I find Facebook messages from readers, letting me know they stayed up late to finish one of my books. Or I’ll bump into them at the store or in church or they’ll text me. For these people and their compliments, I am incredibly grateful. They make my day every time!!

#23 Office supplies. Nice pens and beautiful journals, ink for my printer, highlighters and a magenta stapler. For these tools of the trade, I am grateful.

Technology

#24 I am grateful for the super synonyms suggested by Thesaurus.com.

#25 For Canva.com, the online digital software that helps me make my blog and Facebook page look both pretty and professional, I am grateful.

#26 Youtube! I am grateful for your ability to provide free music.

#27 I am grateful for platforms that allow me to share my words with the world… Facebook, Pinterest, my blog, and my website… I am grateful!

#28 I am grateful to the Best Buy Geek Squad for helping me out of every tech jam I find myself in, and especially for never making me feel less than adequate about my status as a human for mucking up yet another computer/file/download/device.

#29 I am thankful for the ability to take my writing on the go. I love my Microsoft Surface Pro 4 and am grateful for its mobility, long battery life, light weight and attached keyboard so that I can write and publish anywhere and anytime.

And finally…

#30 I am grateful that writing work, rarely feels like work.

What about you? What are you grateful for in this writing world of ours?

Maybe a specific book or author that positively impacted your life? Maybe a technique that improved your writing or a tool you simply couldn’t write without? Let us know in the comments. The great thing about Gratitude, is that it grows. Once it gets started, it’s hard to stop.

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