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A home-made gratitude notebook or journal is the perfect gift. It's more meaningful, less expensive, and more environmentally friendly than a store-bought gift. It's not expensive, and doesn't feed our "consumerism" monster. Because you're giving from your heart, your friend knows you really care. Best of all, it helps your loved one become a more caring, grateful person. Isn't it wonderful to be part of influencing someone's life for the better?

Here's how to put it together: Get a thin 3-ring binder. Decorate it or add a personalized cover if you like. Add paper, either lined or blank. Attach a nice pen to write with. And your perfect gift is done! No fancy present with ribbon to be unwrapped. Instead, it's a practical gift that will be used every day, and treasured for years to come.

Now that you've given a gift to someone else, it's time to give yourself a gift: Make a gratitude notebook for yourself. Okay, so you've created a notebook for yourself, now how do you use it?

Every day, write down things you're grateful for. People, home, school, job; situations, opportunities. Even if you've had a difficult day, look for the "silver lining". Amazingly it takes less than 5 minutes a day. And that's all there is to using it! Just a plain, simple idea you can start doing today.

Make it a regular habit to write in your notebook for 5-10 minutes, either morning or evening. Write for 21 days in a row and now it's a good habit you've created for yourself. Don't worry if your spelling or grammar aren't perfect (you're going to be the only one reading it anyway). Just get in the habit of writing a little bit every day.

Well here's the twist: every day, contact someone and thank them. Just 1 or 2 sentences. Show appreciation by phone, email, card, or in person. Begin with your "easy" list of people you enjoy, and gradually work up to contacting your "challenge" list. You'll begin to view those around you in a different light.

An "Attitude of Gratitude" will change your heart. It will change you. You will change you... for the better! You'll blossom into a better person. A better spouse, parent, sibiling, child, friend, boss, or employee. And by stretching, you'll encourage those around you to grow as well. Who would have known that 5 minutes a day could make such a huge difference in our lives?

P.S. A "notebook" sounds less intimidating than a "journal". Also the term "journal" may have a feminine connotation to some folks, so I prefer to use the generic term "notebook" (especially when giving one to a guy). Decorate your notebook with photos of things important to you: family, dreams, home, friends.

Learn more about this author, Susan Stellar.
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