Gratitude Journal 101

My parents were products of the Great Depression. Mom, one of seven kids born to immigrants, had grown up poor. Dad, the only child of a doctor, had grown up in comfort. Long after I’d grown up and gotten my own home, my mother scolded me about tossing the remaining half of a lemon I’d used for cooking. I knew the lemon would go bad before I had any need for it. Mom operated on the principle that wasting food is sinful.

Curiously, Dad was the one often talking about another Depression being just around the corner. He and Mom now live in a retirement community in North Carolina, and I can only imagine that they, like everyone I know, have sustained frightening losses in their investment portfolios. Now that we’re facing the worst economic downturn since his childhood, I was pleasantly surprised to hear him tell me that we need to be optimistic.

I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that each day brings news that makes me sad or scared. One day last week The Boston Globe had a small item about the FootJoy plant in Brockton closing, yet another casualty of the economy. I might not otherwise have known that FootJoy is a high end golf shoe selling for more than $300 a pair had I not run into a young friend on the Green Line.

Maria told me that her mother was just laid off by FootJoy. She’d worked at the plant for nearly twenty years, taking pride in doing what she did well, making shoes. Resigned to being one of the many working poor, she’d thought that if she continued to work hard, she might ultimately return to her native Cape Verde, where whatever money she had would go further. She speaks very little English, has very little education and has no idea what she will do next.

At work another young friend told me that the father of a close friend had just lost his job. An engineer by profession, the man had earned a living good enough to allow him to support his family in an upscale suburb.

This morning I found some comfort in Jeffrey Zaslow’s article in The Wall Street Journal, “From Attitude to Gratitude: This Is No Time for Complaints.” The piece talks about tough times giving people perspective on what's important.

At the risk of sounding like Pollyanna, I’m resolved to take the advice of one of Mr. Zaslow’s sources, who suggests beginning each day with a three item gratitude list:

Today I feel thankful that I:

1) Sold my house in 2007, after nearly everybody told me it was insane to try to sell because the market was in free-fall. Having slashed the asking price on my house, I bought a beautiful condo from a speculator who slashed his asking price too.

2) Have a job providing stimulating work and smart colleagues. Working in public relations has allowed me to build meaningful friendships with people I might otherwise never have met.

3) Live with a loving husband who has great perspective on life. Dennis loves to tell about the art classes he took at age nine. He never realized his classmates lived in much bigger houses than he did until the assignment was “draw a picture of your house.” He still felt great about where he lived.