Remember how I said one of my goals for this year is to stay present and take things day by day?  Well, I’m actually doing something about it!  Actually, I am doing two things about it.

1. I signed up for a simple happiness challenge called 100 happy days.  When my friend Ankita emailed me about it and said that she was signing up, I couldn’t resist.

The idea of the challenge is to take a picture of something that makes you happy every day for 100 days.  You then select a way to share your pictures (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, email, etc.), tag them with the #100happydays hashtag or a private one you create yourself, and watch the magic happen!  And if nothing else, at the end of the 100 days, you have a collection of happy pictures to look back on!

I’ll be sharing my pictures via Instagram @myinnershakti, so feel free to follow along.  And if you decide to participate, let me know how I can follow along on your happiness journey as well.

2. Vishnu and I resurrected our Thankful Thoughts journal on January 1st and are doing a fairly good job of documenting three small things that we’re thankful for each day.  Our goal (ok fine…MY goal) is to keep up with this for the entire year so that at the end of 2014 we have a long list of all the wonderful blessings in our lives.

Here are some of my favorites so far…

Parita – friendship, health, my hubby, coming home for lunch every day, cards against humanity, my family, having a TJs near us, a husband who tells it like it is, the nice man that held the elevator for me.

Vishnu – Par’s pep talks, chance to be a doctor, walking distance to grocery store, life challenges, football Sundays, a comfy bed, warm climate during the winter, weekends off.

Personally, the things that make me happy are the things I’m thankful for, so I think these two activities will help me focus on all the good “stuff” I have going on right NOW.  Not tomorrow, not a year from now, but NOW.

And like someone once told me, there’s nothing like a little gratitude to keep you grounded.

So tell me, are you going to participate in the #100happydays challenge?!  What’s your favorite way to practice gratitude?