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In 2014, Mom wanted to live closer to us. My husband, Kevin, and I found a lovely ______ for her. The next day, she ______ me to complain about the food in a nearby restaurant.

I asked Kevin. “Do you think I complain a lot?” Kevin hesitated a few seconds before saying no. I realized that the family nature of complaining had taken ______ in me.

I decided to keep a better watch on my______. Things went fine for a few weeks. I was delighted at my ______. But every time Mom called, I got ______. I felt ______ to change by myself.

A few days later, I received from my friend Torry a ______ with one word on its cover: Blessings. He encouraged me to keep writing things I’m______for.

The next morning, I ______ the journal and wrote the date, then two things I was grateful for. Number one, friends who ______ me. Two, my caring husband. ______filled my heart. Maybe this was it. Not just the missing piece to help me ______the complaining but a joyous replacement:______.

Over the next few months, as I ______ to list blessings each day, I noticed little things I’d been ______ to: how the wind made the leaves ______; how the smile of a baby ______ my heart.

Looking for things to be thankful for ______to a deeper shift in me. Life didn’t suddenly become trouble-free. But a new awareness of the ______ around me made me see how lucky I was.