For some people, a funny thing happened on the way to this gratitude project helping you feel better ~ it didn't.

Some missed days here, a less than thoughtful gratitude post there, maybe a sense of intimidation rather than inspiration while reading others' submissions - and you find yourself feeling more guilt than gratitude when seeing that reminder e-mail in your inbox.

Has this happened to you? If so, consider these suggestions:

1. A little internal push can help. Too big a push (guilt or even shame!) may cause you to lose the positive outcomes from this project even when you are posting. No push at all would mean that you have stopped participating. Find that just right push.

2. Be kind to yourself. Talk to your guilt and let it know that you are not about that when it comes to this project. Any gratitudes you offer are a success but only if you allow yourself to APPRECIATE your efforts.

3. Having high hopes and low expectations is better than having high expectations and low hopes. Saying, 'I hope to get on the site every day but I will be happy if I visit at least 2-3 times a week' is better than, 'I should be on here every day but I'm screwing up.'

4. Remember that you have your own style, rhythm, and availability to participate in this project. Even if you just visit occasionally to read some of what others are saying and allow some gratitude to rub off on you - you are well ahead of the game!

5. This may help too - there was one study on gratitude practice that suggested that weekly rather than daily gratitudes had a better outcome for participants. In other words the benefits of gratitude may have been offset by the exercise feeling like a chore. (In fact the purpose of the daily themes was to help keep the project fresh to offset this possibility. Hopefully it helped but it may still be too monotonous for some.)

So if you've lost a bit of momentum or feel you aren't doing good enough - look for the road back to gratitude. Be grateful that you have gotten this far. Be grateful that you have learned something. Be grateful that you care enough to be reading this.

You are obviously an awesome person. Don't forget.

Thanks for reading...