gratitude and recharge-athon

This evening as I was taking a little time to reflect and complete my launchwork (homework for the book Ladies Who Launch), I had a bit of an ah-hah moment. The launchwork assignment was to come up with a list of 100 things/ways in which I recharge. To use the words of Victoria Colligan and Beth Schoenfeldt, the authors of the book: 100 things that make me feel giddy, punchy, and almost drunk with pleasure--things that make me smile, make me more creative, and give me more energy.

About half-way through creating my recharge-athon list, I realized I haven't really taken the time to be grateful lately. In fact, this past week, I have been feeling rather down and not like my usual self. Because of this, I have totally ignored or been too wrapped up in feeling bad to recognize all the good around me all the time. It's a vicious cycle: you neglect to notice good and be grateful, and you feel down...you feel down, so you neglect to see all the good around you and express gratitude...and on and on and on. So, I made the conscious decision to stop the cycle before it got the best of me and start focusing on the good and expressing gratitude.

Now, don't get me wrong. I realize we all go through periods of our lives when we feel down--some more than others. However, the best way I've found to deal with these times is to recognize it's a down time in my life, surrender to and accept it, while acknowledging this too shall pass.

It's just interesting to me how simply taking the time to start thinking about and creating a list of things and activities that made me happy kind of snapped me out of feeling sad. So, I would invite you to create your own recharge-athon list--whether you are feeling happy, sad, depleted, or filled up.

Feel free to share some of your favorite things on your list. I always enjoy finding out how others recharge!

Here are some of the items from my list:

1. spending time with my husband and family
2. teaching yoga
3. browsing bookstores
4. reading
5. having yummy smelling candles burning in my home
6. sitting at starbucks reading and drinking a decaf, non-fat, no whip, mocha
7. getting massages
8. manicures
9. pedicures
10.laying out at the pool on a sunny day
11.decorating
12.watching HGTV for creative inspiration
13.bargain shopping
14.writing on my blog and reading blogs
15.watching chick flicks

So, what are the activities/things that make you happy and help you recharge?

Namaste'
Leslie

photo by One Tree Hill from Flickr