I'm overdue on writing in this blog. I tell myself I should write, shame myself for not writing, then shame myself for not showing myself a little grace. It's been a rough couple of years (understatement of the decade).

As I've been grappling with everything from professional problems to familial disasters to health concerns, I recently had the epiphany that I can take negative things one of two ways: I can accept them and move forward or I can lament them and waste even more precious time.

In an effort to move my mindset more toward the latter, I've taken to daily gratitude exercises that I'm calling the Gratitude Haiku™. Even though it's not a traditional haiku, its structure is influenced by haiku. Every day, I sit down and reflect on the following:

3 – Ways that others showed me kindness today

5 – Things that I am grateful for today

3 – Ways that I showed others kindness today

There's no requirement for each of these items to be in haiku format (bonus points if you do), but I've found it to be a helpful exercise to both recognize all of the blessings in my life while also pushing myself to be that same force of good in others' lives.