A YEAR LONG AFFAIR: A THOUGHTFUL GIFT FOR YOUR LOVED ONE

It all started last fall. I got a random audiobook from the library. I don't remember the name of it and can't find it in my history 🙁 The book was something along the lines "How not to hate your husband after kids".

It was a tough time. I was pregnant, felt sick and saw everything in a negative light. He didn't take the garbage out, he planned to go to the gym on a Saturday when we didn't see each other whole week. He planned that trip when I had no energy to go to.. I realized that instead of noticing good things, I was concentrated on everything that wasn't happening. The random paragraph in a random book changed the way I was thinking. The ice was to write a journal every day, finding something positive in your husband, something you appreciate in him.

I decided to write a gratitude journal for my husband, noticing the good things that he was doing. For an entire year, without telling him what I was doing, I wrote down what made me grateful for this man. I can't explain how much of a difference it made. When you make an effort to notice good, something changes and it simply becomes a habit.

I used the notes on my phone to write it on a daily basis and printed the whole thing last week for my husband's birthday. At first, it wasn't even meant for him, but a few weeks ago, while we were arguing, he said that I "don't notice", I thought to myself: "you have no idea what's coming your way" 🙂

Finding what I wanted to write down that day became a sort of a secret game. I was tracking his actions, watching him every day and it would be such an exciting moment to find something to put down.

After I printed my notes, I made a cover for it and a small booklet, glued each printed page separately and decorated a bit.

That's how I made the cover

The title was "the only book you'd want to read this year" and each month was as a chapter.

When he ripped the wrapping and saw this notebook, he didn't know what he would find inside, but as he flipped through it, it hit him.

I notice.

I see what kind of man he is, his hard work and his sense of humor, his crazy social skills and how he can make people around comfortable. This gratitude journal changed the way I'm seeing him and my way of loving. After all, if you look for positive, you'll always find it.

You can do this too. I encourage you to write a gratitude journal to your loved one and GIVE it to them! Don't keep it to yourself!