Practicing Gratefulness...My 30 DAY GRATITUDE INVENTORY

About a year ago, my voice coach, Keith Price, suggested that I keep a daily gratitude list. He said it had done wonders for his life, his state-of-mind, and manifestation of his goals.

Now how in the world could writing down things I'm grateful for help me manifest my dreams and goals? I wasn't sure, but I agreed to try it.

In the beginning, it was tedious. I'd write down simple things like:

I'm thankful for my car that gets me to & from auditions....I'm grateful for the health & well-being of my family and myself....I'm grateful to have a roof over my head....

But as I continued my list each day, I realized it was really an exercise in the power of the mind. I came to find that focusing my mind on the positive things in my life, created a better me. After the first month, I noticed my mood had become happier and lighter. Little things that used to bother me, I could now let go. Instead of obsessing and stressing over situations and people that I couldn't control, I now had the mental power to divert my attention & focus onto more positive things. And eventually, those other situations would work themselves out WITHOUT me wasting my energy on them. It also gave me a newfound perspective that I'd only experienced after traveling abroad and seeing how other people lived.

And it was actually an episode of The Wendy Williams Show that inspired me to take my grateful list to the next level--a 30-DAY GRATITUDE INVENTORY.

Yeah. I said it. I watch Wendy Williams. How YOU doin' ?!

So, watching Wendy's show this morning, I was extremely touched by her generosity in donating school supplies to children in her hometown. Sadly, it will take many more generous people like Wendy Williams for kids to have all of the tools that they need to get their education.

With films like "Waiting for Superman" and Tony Danza's new reality series "Teach," I've become acutely aware of the state of our education system as of late. Budget cuts and lay-offs are contributing to what the US Secretary of Education calls "an education catastrophe." And the teachers that do remain are digging deep into their own pockets to supply their students with basic necessities like pens, paper, textbooks, and even eyeglasses and sometimes food. In this economic crisis, our teachers have taken on an even greater burden than usual. And the very least we can do is show our gratitude and appreciation, like Wendy did on her show.

So how did this impel me to begin a 30-day Gratitude Inventory? Well...it made me stop and think about the teachers who had made an impact on my life. The people who not only taught me about Math, Science, and English--but also pushed me, encouraged me, taught me about discipline, and were a consistent positive presence in my life.

For the next 30-days, I will be taking a Gratitude Inventory of my life. Essentially, I'll be writing down and taking stock of the people and things in my life for which I am grateful. And to take it one step further, during the first week -- I will be writing letters to the 7 people from my childhood that have made a major impact--from teachers, to girl scout leaders and athletic coaches.

I'll keep updating here on my blog to let you know where this journey takes me!