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Image: jupiterimages.comAlright, I just made up a different name for the challenge 
There are so many names by which we can refer to this challenge. It’s just the 3rd day on the challenge, and I have been calling it so many names already:
1. “List down 1050 things you are grateful for – The Challenge”
2. “‘Attitude of Gratitude’ Challenge”
3. “Thanksgiving Challenge”
4. Latest: “‘Gratitude Book’ Challenge”. Why? Because we are supposed to be noting them all in a book, remember?
Anyway, you can call it what you want, and if a lot of you think of a better name, we can even perform a naming ceremony! LOL!
For those of you who are yet to participate in the challenge for this month, here are the details you should catch up on:
1. The announcement
2. The Logical Goal™ for this challenge.
It’s turning to be so much fun; you sure don’t want to miss it! Come, join the challenge now!
Today I was supposed to write down a quick post to give a specific example of how I turned a bad moment into a happy one by applying this principle of gratitude. But I guess that one can wait, as there is something more important that I would like to write about today.
I thought it was very important to write this post, as it would help more people to see that it is indeed an easy task to make a list of 1050 items that they can be (and though unaware, actually are) grateful for.
So far we have had mixed feelings about the difficulty level of this challenge. It is perfectly normal to feel that this is a difficult challenge, especially when we are not used to living each moment with an attitude of gratitude. The more you practice gratitude, the easier it becomes, and our life gets filled with all the goodness that it has to offer. Actually, all the goodness is already there! It’s just that you start relating to and identifying all that goodness and start living a life full of happiness.
Zarko said he’s made his list of first 50 on day one. Patricia was working on hers too, in spite of her upcoming store launch. And Steve left a great example through his comment on the main post with the Logical Goal for the challenge, though he’s been way busy too!
Here’s a list of 50 things from amongst those that I have noted in my book (currently in raw soft copy). I have a higher purpose in sharing this specific list of items with all of you lovely people on this beautiful day. So here goes…
I am grateful for…
- All the basic necessities that are satisfied
- Material comforts that make my life so easy
- All the “luxuries” that I already possess or could easily possess if I want
- Abstract comforts/luxuries like love, happiness, peace of mind and serenity
- People who care about me
- People whom I care about, even though they may not care about me
- People whom I don’t necessarily care about, but whose presence in my life makes a difference
- People who crossed my path and made me stronger
- People who helped me one or more times
- Good things that happened to me in the past
- Tough things that happened to me and made me stronger
- Good things that happen to me almost every day
- Centuries of changes and happenings that brought us to this age
- Talents/qualities I discovered in me
- Skills I developed over the years
- Physical abilities that help me do so many things
- Facilities around me without which living may not have been so comfortable
- The environment and all the good things that nature has to offer
- Goals that I have achieved till date
- My dreams and visions for the future, and that they look so promising
- Opportunities at hand, which give me the means and direction to go ahead
- Possibilities infinite, and my ability to focus on positive results
- My body, it’s attributes and features
- All the food options and my huge list of favorites
- Technology and scientific advancements and their benefits in our life
- The times I got lucky, and good things happened just out of the blue
- The times I got lucky and escaped mishaps
- Circumstances that make/made a positive difference in my life
- Resources that helped me grow in many good ways
- Negative things, that help(ed) me become stronger
- All that I am not, and will not be
- The minute day to day happenings that I have the grace to notice and be thankful for
- Areas in my life in which I am enjoying above-average benefits
- The never-ending list of stuff that is available for reading
- The never-ending list of stuff that I can do, given any amount of extra time
- Appreciation I have received over the years (now that’s tough to recollect)
- Appreciation that I deserved but never received – it challenged me to do better and prove my excellence
- Moments of pride and ecstacy that I have experienced
- All the things I manage to make time for even though I am on a full-time (overtime?) job
- All the choices I made in life, which led me where I am today
- My massive list of hobbies and things that I would love to do anytime
- Constant flow of thoughts and ideas that just appear out of nowhere (actually tapped from the universe)
- Most of my fears and worries being proven unfounded and wrong
- Being able to use the power of the mind and having realized its potential in the first place
- Variety in my roles and responsibilities at my job
- The uncertainties in life and the little surprises that come with each day
- Experiences that showed me how doing good to others comes back multiplied manifold
- The beauty of blogging and all the goodness that comes with it
- The infinite options available to us to do good to others
- Every potentially-negative happening that I turn(ed) around into a positive experience
- Myself, for having come into being, and for having the potential to leave a legacy before I’m gone
Now breathe… and be thankful for this list.
But hey, this post was meant to be a list of 50 ideas to make it a piece of cake to list 1050 items. This is just a list of 50 (plus one bonus) items. Where are the ideas?
Well, take a closer look at the first 50 items in the above list. Each of the items above are actually generic categories. You can even think of more such categories. Then you can list down multiple items under each of these categories, with some of the categories forking out into hundreds of smaller items, each of which may be a sub-category in itself that you can build up further on. Just how deep do you want to get?
Consider an average of 50 items per category mentioned above, and you already have your list of 1050 things that you are grateful for. Piece of cake, isn’t it?
If even 5 people can complete their list of 1050 items by the 25th, I woud say this challenge bore very sweet fruits. Hey, by the way, how about aiming for 50 people to complete the challenge? I think that will just blow us all away! Send this to your friends, spread the word, and see “the world around you” change in beautiful and grateful ways.
[...] read: 50 ideas that make the Gratitude Book Challenge a piece of cake Copyright Mark @ Secrets of Success. All rights reserved. This material may not be replicated or [...]
[...] read next: 1. List down 1050 things you are grateful for – The Challenge 2. 50 ideas that make this challenge a piece of cake Copyright Mark @ Secrets of Success. All rights reserved. This material may not be replicated or [...]
Hi Mark,
as I said on my blog I skipped making the list yesterday, my Sunday was unfortunately way too busy to even have a minute to myself, but I intend to catch up and your list sure gave me plenty of ideas and some things I am grateful for are listed there.
Like I said, i think it’s great what you are doing, and this may help each and every one of us feel better about ourselves, by rediscovering the things we fail to notice everyday we can change our views to be even more positive and to be simply thankful for every little thing we have, which is rare!
Hi Zarko,
I’m glad you found the list helpful.
Now you made some very useful points here,… The main advantages/benefits of this challenge, even to those who do not reach the end goal of 1050:
1) Makes us feel better about ourselves (and our situation).
2) Helps us rediscover the things we fail to notice (or take for granted) everyday
3) Changes our views to be even more positive, and
4) Gives us the opportunity to be simply thankful for every little thing we (already) have
And as you rightly pointed out, these things are rare! I think the challenge gives a wonderful opportunity, and everyone should practice it, if not in accordance with the schedule of this ongoing challenge, at least at one’s own pace.
Like I mentioned to you on your site, I too am lagging behind. It becomes very difficult for me to make time during weekdays. But I’m trying to make time by taking a minute here and a minute there. Should be able to catch up, I think. Certainly not giving up on it!
Cheers,
Mark
Hi Mark:
You are a very strong will powered Mark of success. I accept your motivation is really strong. I like what you have to say in your blog post. When I have the time I will like to learn from you. Very recently I started a new gig which I am working on, taking all my time plus the usual stuff.
Keep up the good work
FranA
Fran,
It’s good to keep busy and take on more on your plate. Constantly adding new skills or refining the ones you already possess is a very important side of personal development. Keep up the good work, and all the very best with the new gig.
Sometimes you should also try and push even more onto your plate – things that have zero risk but have a good potential for benefits are a good candidate for this. You’d be surprised at how much more you can do, although you never thought you would. This challenge is one such zero-risk action item that has a lot of benefits.
I know that taking on too much will make you tired at the end of the day. But if what is causing you to keep busy is not causing you negative stress in return, there’s nothing to lose. You’ll just get a very sound and good night’s sleep, not to mention the satisfaction that comes from having had an extremely productive day
Cheers,
Mark
What a great challenge! I’m not going to participate in blog form, but I will start making a list of things I’m grateful for because I think that’s just a fantastic idea. Thanks so much!
Hi Tristan,
Welcome to Secrets of Success!
It’s nice that you found the challenge worth taking up. It’s perfectly fine not to announce your list publicly, as that is not a requirement for the challenge. You are free to note down the list the way you want (as long as you note it down in readable form – not in memory), and free to talk about it on your blog in general if you wish. I mentioned the above list just to demonstrate that if we dive even a little deep, there are so many things to add to the list, and that 1050 is not a difficult task if we put our mind to it.
It would be nice to have you join us, though you came across this about 3 to 4 days after it started. It would be nice to know your progress. For all you know, you might still be able to complete the challenge by Thanksgiving day. Now that would be a great achievement, wouldn’t it?
I look forward to hearing about your progress. I’m sure our other friends taking up this challenge would also be eager to hear from you.
Cheers,
Mark
Next month you can have a “how many titles can you make for a challenge”, challenge. LOL j/k
Anyhow, LIke I said before (I think) I really like the concept of the challenge. It is challenging, but I think takeing a few moments to reflect can have some really positive results.
It can really highlight all the reasons that people have to be thankful for, and to be honest as bad as thing can occasionally seem to us all, there is usually a lot more to be glad for than there is to be sad for.
That’s exactly the point, Steve! This challenge was meant to ultimately prove that if we were to look carefully around us, there are really a lot more things to be glad for than to be sad for. Now I see the poet in you too
Unfortunately, people are not naturally trained to recognize what is good, and they only focus on the little bad that they can find in their lives if they looked hard enough. If only that effort is put into finding out the good, life would be much better for most of us, without changing anything else other than our own thoughts and the way we look at our lives.
Cheers,
Mark
Hi Mark, just thought to give you an update
I’m still behind 
and I feel if I don’t catch up now I will stay this way, I’m more than a day behind!!!
Hi Zarko, thanks so much for dropping by and keeping up the spirit of the challenge.
Well, I’m lagging too. For me it is more a problem of not being able to make the time to note down the things. Thoughts of gratitude seem to be flowing through my mind. I should be catching and noting them down every now and then, but that has been difficult with my full-time job.
I will be trying hard to catch up. Am really looking forward to the weekend, as that is the time I can make more than a few minutes for myself.
What is your main hurdle? Is it that you are running out of things to list up, or is it the lack of time at hand?
The same problem you have, lack of time. My clients are pushing things up since the holiday season is coming and it is starting to get really hard to find a minute for myself not to mention my girlfriend
Hi Zarko,
From your one sentence, I can see some things you should be grateful for:
1) You have clients (and probably a good number of them – each client can count as one item to be grateful for… and then each of the good things that they do can in turn add up to more things you should be grateful for. Seriously, split this into multiple items per client… it’s not bloating up your list, it’s just taking the time to acknowledge every small part of your life)
2) Holiday season is coming up (which is a great thing to be grateful and happy about)
3) You have a girlfriend… that’s even more special!
4) You are keeping busy… and most probably getting more done in a day that you would be doing otherwise.
Keep going! Sometimes there can be spans of 5 mins in which you can add 20 items (probably?) – things just flow sometimes. Just keep your mind loose. Don’t get tensed up about it. (And that’s an advice I give myself every now and then)
Cheers,
Mark
Hi Mark
With my guest post and my store going up haven’t written them down but I am becoming more aware of all that I am grateful for. Next week may get to actually write them down. It will probably be in a Word document as I seem to spend more time on my laptop these days than away from it lol
BTW have you visited my first guest post yet? I know that you do visit heaps of sites, like I do too. Just wanted to be able to give the blog owner some link luv as he writes quality posts and also for asking me to write the post for his blog. Thanks Mark. Left the URL on my latest post.
Patricia Perth Australia
Ha ha! Patricia, it’s interesting that you compared my rate of blog commenting to yours, and I’m glad that you actually thought that way. The truth of the matter though, is that I have just been visiting less than 10 blogs, and that too some of them being just once in a week or month. But I guess you have been active on what, 100+ blogs?
But since you made a special mention, and because it is your post, I’ll surely check it out. You got my word there.
About the challenge, I know you’ve been very busy. But then again that means more things that you can add on to your list. Do you see what I mean? I think Word should be great. I personally am writing mine in Excel.
Trying to do so many things in my personal life in about 0.5 to 1.5 hours per weekday. I’m grateful though that I am making significant progress considering that amount of time.
Lagging behind in the challenge, but determined to catch up. Let’s give it our best!
Cheers,
Mark
Hi Mark:
I am growing to like your perseverance towards working. As you are making people change, and that is the best. My new start got a little late, I had two and a half days of without internet, and so I could not do much. There was no TV, No home phone and No Internet. Because our lawn people had cut down the main connection to these services while mowing the lawn. Fixing the whole area took some time. I was so up set, but still had to wait, can not do much.
To night I got everything back.
Keep up the work and I will see you next time, until than
take care.
Fran Aslam
Hi Fran,
Thanks for dropping by, and for the kind words.
Your situation reminded me of something that happened on the day I was to publish the Logical Goals post for the ongoing challenge. In fact, that is my next post – had drafted it, but didn’t get to finish it off. Had thought I would publish over the weekend (my time “oasis”), but then that was another story. It’s Sunday night here already, and I think I won’t be able to publish it today.
Will explain in more detail in the upcoming post, but for now I’ll just say that I hope you made the best use of all the time you got for yourself, with three of the biggest distractions (TV, Phone, Internet) taken away for a quick break
Cheers,
Mark
Hi Mark,
I thought I add a few of my obvious lists here as well. Slowly working towards the magical 1050 number:
I am grateful for:
the monthly income I earn.
1) the car I drive.
2) the roof over my head.
3) the iPhone and computer I have.
4) the short trips I get to go with my family.
5) the opportunity to clean my house.
6) my children
7) that I am not in a worse state.
9) the books I was introduced to.
10) the audios I get to listen to everyday.
11) for treating myself best.
This is really fun like you said.
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