Welcome back! It's good to see you again. Please note that I am now publishing all new material at my hub site: In Context Blog

I have been spending a lot of time over at D*I*Y Planner lately, looking for project inspiration, and have I ever found some! There is just no end to the creativity shown by the members of the DIYP community. This post on remembering to be thankful and being inspired to give back is tremendous:

…I learned how to make my own news. I found a use for a journal a friend in college gave to me. She filled the spiral bound journal with a cat on the cover with inspirational quotes and messages. It took me almost 10 years to figure out what to use it for. Taking this book out I decided that it was time to put it too good use. I call it the Book of Counted Blessings and Gifts and for the past 6 years, I’ve written down (almost daily) the blessings and gifts that life and my travels have given me.

Two things get written into this journal. Each entry is dated, for remembering. The first is a simple statement beginning with Thank you. I then write about a gift I received that day. It could be as simple as getting a smile from a stranger to something tangible, like being given a free meal by a friend. This helps remind me that we get gifts daily from this world and that we should be more mindful of them and thank the entities (in person or in writing) for the time they’ve taken to make the gift.

Being more mindful of life in general is one of the “meta” goals of the GTD practice, yet being mindful of the gifts that we receive should definitely be one of our priorities.

I happen to have a small spiral notebook with 42 pages, each has a little inspirational quote, and the cover says “Gratitude”. It’s not big enough to use as a Book of Counting Your Blessings, even at one page per week. But it is a guide. And there is no reason at all that I cannot make my own. You know, a little “do-it-yourself” project.

How about that?