Little Orange Papers – Mommy Blogger

01/19/2018

Elyse Lalonde has always called Saskatoon home. She started on the motherhood journey in the Summer of 2015 when she had her son. Elyse is a working mom, always seeking a fine balance in life with a busy toddler. As a MommyConnections “alumnus,” she enjoys socializing with moms and babies her son’s age. Elyse has always enjoyed writing and journaling, and hopes to share her experiences (good, bad, and sarcastic) with the online parenting community in Saskatoon.

January brings with it a new year: like every year, of course. But what’s different about this year? What makes last year unique to this year, you may ask?

This year I have accomplished something new and somewhat delightful.

For me, I can finally say I stuck with a New Year’s Resolution from 2016 for the entire duration of 2017. Hourray!

I pulled my inspiration from one of my favorite authors, Elizabeth Gilbert. A few years ago, she shared with the world her “*Happiness jar.” I’m not sure that it is unique to her, but I took inspiration from the idea that each and every day, you would write one thing down on a piece of paper of something that you felt grateful for, regardless of the kind of day you had, and place it in a jar. It could be something obvious, like feeling happy because you got a promotion at work, or it could be simple, like I’m thankful I made it to bedtime and am now in my cozy PJs.

The idea is that, at the end of the year, you would have 365 little notes to review and remind yourself of how great of a year it really was. To be able to review all the nitty gritty positive aspects and experiences of your year, long after the moment or the memory had passed… except I know myself, and I know what my motivation levels are at the end of each day. So instead of writing “gratitude” notes every day, I decided to try this exercise once a week for a whole year. And I’m proud, and a little excited to say it was a fantastic experience. For many reasons.

On really positive days, it felt extra special to be able to relish in the joy of the day: writing down these good experiences really solidified the positivity I was feeling. I wrote things like “I had a fun time with my family at the pool this weekend” or “I felt appreciation and gratitude when I was recognized for my hard work today,” or, “I felt daring, content and confident after joining the mommy blogging community.”

On bad days, where I was sick, or my son was sick, or work was busy or draining, I was challenged to find something positive out of a mess, and there were some weeks I skipped writing altogether, only to pickup the slack in the following weeks. Those weeks were particularly “blasé” weeks, where seemingly nothing “great” happened. And yet, great things could, in fact, be found when I dug a little deeper.

One bad day in particular really drew my attention to the purpose of what I was doing. I had been so very sick. I was not able to sleep properly, and our little family’s fall “staycation” was ruined by all three of us coming down with a flu/cold. As usual, I seemed to have the worst of it.

My energy was at an all time low. I wanted to get out and about and enjoy my time off at home, but I pushed myself too far and, for lack of better words, I reached 0%. I had no patience for anyone, not even myself. I was sick with dread, and failure, and all the worlds future exhaustion.

But I discovered something major. What was most draining on me in my bad days became the thing that was able to recharge me. To bring me back to life, to positivity.

It’s the same thing that’s been recorded on little orange papers for a year….

9/10 of those little papers included something about my son. About the little things that made me smile day-to-day. About the great time we spent together throughout the year, in various seasons & situations. The immense gratitude that emanates from those little orange papers is a reminder to me of why I do what I do, why everyday is great when I get to spend it with my son, when I’m able to take a moment to appreciate, and be grateful for, the present moment.

By December, it turned out that I had ran a bit short of little orange papers. This could be motivating, in a sense that I wrote extra notes down during the 52 weeks. It could be that I just miscounted the papers… Nevertheless, I still have a minimum of 52 reasons to be grateful for 2017. But when you look hard enough, there are at least 365 reasons to be thankful, each and every year.

*https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/one-true-thing/201511/whats-in-elizabeth-gilberts-happiness-jar