Thinking about gratitude

I've been listening to a self-help audiobook recently (Michael Hyatt's Your Best Year Ever), and in the last segment I listened to while I was driving around yesterday - I mostly listen when I'm driving, these days, because I find it too distracting while I'm doing anything else - he talked about establishing a practice of gratitude for the good things in my life, as a way of guiding myself toward an abundance mindset. (That sounds very "woo", as my old friend Naomi would have put it, but it's based in Dr. Carol Dweck's research into fixed vs. growth mindsets - you might have heard me talk about this in terms of telling kids "you're so smart/talented!" vs. "you worked so hard on this!".)

Yesterday evening, a friend sent a link to a blog post they said they thought I'd like, and about halfway through the author started talking about how their life had improved since they'd started being mindfully grateful for things in their life instead of focusing on the things that were causing pain or needed improvement.

Today I decided to do something different, so I picked up Rob Conery's The Imposter's Handbook, which I'd left off a few months ago due to getting distracted and forgetting about it. I read back over the last pages I'd seen, then turned the page to a new section - which was about establishing a practice of gratitude.

Okay, universe, I get the idea.

Today, I'm thinking about how I'm grateful for:

• My cat, Bioux, who has been a great comfort to me, and whom I nearly lost a few months ago
• Dialysis, which keeps me alive and as healthy as it can
• My family, who are broadly supportive even though they don't know how best to support me specifically
• My job, which keeps my brain occupied and my bank account at a reasonable level, and my coworkers, who are more specifically supportive and generally kind
• The feeling of the sun on my skin; I've spent far too much of my life artificially confining myself to the indoors

(If I didn't mention something or someone here, that doesn't mean I'm not grateful for them; I'm listing five things a day but also limiting myself to five things a day so I don't run out!)