Book Review
21 Days of Gratitude Challenge: Finding Freedom from Self-Pity and a Negative Attitude by Shelley Hitz
“ . . .take simple steps of intentional gratitude . . .and watch and see what God does.” Shelley Hitz, from 21 Days of Gratitude Challenge
Shelley Hitz’s new book, 21 Days of Gratitude Challenge: Finding Freedom from Self-Pity and a Negative Attitude uses the idea that if people practice a habit for 21 days, they can create a new pattern of thinking and living. Hitz chose to implement this strategy in her own life after a season of loss and transitions. She quit her job as a physical therapist, sold her Ohio home, lived with debt issues for seven years, moved to Belize with her husband CJ to become missionaries and then moved to Colorado. During this time, she found herself mentally, spiritually and physically exhausted. She decided to change her outlook and used gratitude to accomplish this task.
By handwriting 21 thank-you notes, one each for 21 straight days, Hitz found herself a different person at the end of her experiment. She learned that in her positive memories lay a deep well of restorative nourishment. Here she found people who had helped her in her career, in her faith journey, in her education. She used “remembering” to take her into a bright future, one that, by looking back, she could go forward, full of the hope her gracious Savior promised.
This is a short book, big on life-changing ways to create a full expression of who we long to be and can be, if we put into practice Hitz’s suggestions. Each day is a short mind-jog to get you thinking about whom you might want to thank. Accompanying these ideas is an application. Sometimes these suggestions are prompts more than they are questions to get you thinking. In particular I like Hitz’s challenge on Day No. 10 – “Write out at least five spiritual blessings you have been given.”
This book is a happiness booster; while it challenged me to look inward, the sole intent of this was to get me to act outwardly by getting me to think about how much I have and have been given by the people whom I have encountered over the span of my life. . . and to thank them, one at a time.
This is a wonderful book. Gift this book to you. You’ll feel like a million bucks and you will change the countenance of the world as you practice these gratitude lessons.
About Julie Saffrin
Julie Saffrin is the author of numerous published articles and essays. Her latest book, BlessBack: Thank Those Who Shaped Your Life, explores the power of gratitude and offers 120 creative ways to journey toward positive, lasting change.
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