I met a lovely friend for lunch recently. I know she reads this blog so I that she recognises herself though I won't name her. She's starting up in a new business and I'm always amazed by her wonderful ideas to keep herself motivated.
She handed me a small stick and asked me write words of advice and encouragement on it, for her to open next year. I though it was such a great idea I had to share with you. What I love about it is that it's a gratitude task that isn't about soul searching for good points in ourselves because on the lowest of days, it's a challenge isn't it but asking for a bit of appreciation from people who matter.
When I was travelling back from my holiday, I struggled. As may you know from past posts, I do get very heartsick over this. Knowing I have friends who wanted me to be back here and told me so as I was packing up made a significant difference this time. This is the connection I can see with asking someone else to write words of advice and encouragement. Feeling loved and needed when you're a little on the edges of what society thinks is normal means a lot.
Perhaps a gratitude stick is something you can do with friends, your partner or family as the evenings grow darker. Write down a few to start with to get you feeling brighter over Christmas (who says you have to start in January!)