It is so easy to focus on that which bothers us, the things that keep us up in the middle of the night, the worries and anxieties, those things we wish had gone differently. We fret, we perseverate, we recycle every negative moment until there ought to be nothing left of it and then we recycle it once again.

I am the first to say that the most basic element of self care is a gratitude practice. It’s those few minutes a day that we take to recognize what we are grateful for in that day. From the simplest things, like a hot cup of coffee first thing in the morning to the pleasures of a conversation with a friend, recognizing gratitude can change our attitudes and even affect our physical well being.

Yet, I find it is easy to start this practice and hard to sustain it. The lure of the stress merry go round is always there, it’s ingrained and it is appealing. I can worry with the best of them and, if it was an Olympic sport, I have no doubt that I would be a gold medal contender.

But when I give myself a few minutes, especially when my hands are busy as they have been today with holiday baking, my mind is free to roam beyond the worry cycle and to see, so clearly, how much I have to be grateful for.

Over the past two weeks, I have spent time with friends I love and don’t see all the time. I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of a professional experience that expanded my thinking and opened me to new ideas. I’ve marveled at the thoughtfulness of my always incredibly thoughtful husband, who, with me traveling without him for over a week, surprised me with greeting cards at every destination, each with a beautiful and personal message. And I had days with our youngest grandchild, who reminds me of how precious every day is and how quickly our children, and grandchildren, grow.

So I begin again, to remember that gratitude matters more than stress, that joy gives us energy, that happiness is a strength and that our blessings are what fill our full hearts.