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On this adventure series, we are challenging ourselves with Practicing Gratitude. Those who practice gratitude report feeling better, find it easier to express kindness and compassion and clinical trials have indicated dramatic and lasting effects in a person’s life. According to Robert A. Emmons, professor of psychology at UC Davis, practicing gratitude can lower blood pressure, improve immune function and facilitate more efficient sleep. The benefits of practicing gratitude seem too good to be true. So this month, we are putting it to the test.So, how do you join us? That’s easy! Join our EMAIL LIST via our website so you don’t miss the challenge steps. Join our FACEBOOK GROUP so we can all learn from each other as we go along. And follow us on the socials, specifically INSTAGRAM, where we plan to share our progress every day of every challenge and hope you will too. Finally, SETUP AN ACCOUNT ON STICKK. It’s free. They have an Android and ios app, and it will provide our daily reminder and accountability so we stick to these goals! It’s super handy and seriously works. I recently completed 50 pushups a day for 30 days because I was being held accountable by my friends and reminded to do them every day by the helpful notification. Now I feel incomplete if I DONT kick out 50 pushups a day. The habit has been created. It’s awesome. Also, bonus feature, you can create an accountability metric by putting up your hard-earned money as an incentive to check-in. Say you make it $5 a day. If you miss a check-in, you will be charged $5. But that $5 will go to the Give Well Foundation. So we will do good for ourselves and for the world. Win-win. This is totally voluntary, but we encourage you do so, as it is proven to help you stick to your goals, and it’s the most good you can do.Next, choose your adventure. We will be establishing 3 levels in which to participate. We are doing this because we want to standardize the challenge somewhat while acknowledging that everyone feels different levels of participation work for them. There is no right or wrong, this is not a competition. Just choose which level feels right to you. Level 1:Keep a journal every day Level 2: Keep a journal Post your gratitude on social daily Smile before every meal Level 3: Keep a journal Post on social daily Smile before every meal Write a letter to a friend, loved one, co-worker, barista every day and deliver. Create a Gratitude Station in your home.  We will cover these levels in depth next week, but we will share them this week so you can start preparing which level works for you and give you time to prepare. What you'll need to participate:So, obviously, you'll want to sign up for all the previously mentioned apps and socials and such. It's not mandatory, but it's proven to be more effective in helping you stick to this challenge. The one thing you will need regardless of the level you choose is a gratitude journal. Obviously you can pick up a blank notebook, use your phone or computer, however you like to jot things down. We really like the 5-minute journal, which has built-in prompt questions for morning and night, feels like the right size and weight for daily use and travel and even feels nice. Totally unnecessary, but quite delightful. You may also want to make sure you have paper and envelopes in the house if you choose to participate in Level 2-3. Finally, the Gratitude Station can be as simple as a jar in a designated area of your home. You’ll document gratitude and add it to this jar or vessel. That’s it! Most people won’t need a thing to participate, but you may want to get crafty so we will leave it to you! We want to see what you plan to use, your gratitude station, and what you are grateful for! So, we ask you tag us and use the hashtag #playingwithfire when posting!