The Grateful Problem plus a Free Printable

Earlier this week I shared my fall mantel.  This is my first time ever trying out a little fall décor and I am really loving it.

I’m a big believer that our homes should speak.  I want my home to speak for me, showing everyone who enters its doors (or sees it on the internet ) who I am and what matters to me.

If you look closely at my fall mantel, you’ll see a pretty clear message.

Thankful.  Blessed. Grateful.

This time the message is for me.

Lately, I have been finding myself in a place of major discontent.  So many things are not how I want them to be.  My husband’s work hours are way too long.  I don’t get to spend nearly as much time as I’d like with my son.  We have been trying for almost a year to have another baby with no success.  And on and on.

All completely true things and completely valid feelings.

But then I remember when not too many years ago, my husband and I were about to get a divorce.  Or when not that long ago, I didn’t expect to ever be able to have a baby.

And it completely changes how I see everything.

I want to be grateful for what I have. I want to focus on all that I am blessed with instead of the things that aren’t exactly how I would like them to be.

But I am learning that gratitude is hard.  And somehow, the more you are blessed with, the harder it is to be grateful for it.  The further I get from those moments of pain and longing, the easier it is to take all I’ve been given for granted.

But I’m working on it, one day at a time.  And to help me along the way, I added these reminders front and center where I will see them each and every day.

The Thankful and Blessed printable is from Nest of Posies.

The Grateful banner is my own creation.  You can download your own copy here.  Just print it, cut it out, and tape it to some string.  Simple.

Here’s to a fall filled with more time being happy with what I have than longing for what I don’t.