My fertility journey began to shift when I started looking for reasons to be grateful.

At my lowest point - after years of disappointments, a miscarriage, failed IUIs, and two failed IVF cycles, my worldview had gotten very narrow and dark. I felt that everything was unfair. I read about gratitude and its power to improve our perspective so I decided to give it a try. I didn’t really think it would work, but in the spirit of “trying everything”, decided to do it anyway.

And - wow - was I pleasantly surprised! I experienced a huge shift in my mindset.

I began to see reasons to be thankful all around me. And, I even began to be genuinely grateful for aspects of our fertility journey. Grateful to live at a time and in a country where IVF was an option. Thankful to have insurance coverage to ease the financial burden. Glad to have a husband who could find the humor in most circumstances.

I don’t believe it is a simple equation that practicing gratitude equals pregnancy. I do believe, though, there is a type of “magic” that comes from a gratitude practice in both improving the fertility journey experience AND increasing overall health and well being.

Studies have shown that a gratitude practice can create more joy, happiness, resilience, and self-esteem. This video offers a great overview of the transformative effect practicing gratitude can have on our social and emotional well-being.

Most of us forget all the everyday things in our lives that make us happy. We can often take them for granted. Especially during a fertility struggle, we can begin to fixate on what we don’t have (e.g. Baby) while ignoring all we DO have from small luxuries, to basic needs, to health and mobility and ways our body IS working…and the list can go on. Gratitude can help us shift to a place of abundance and hope rather than remaining stuck in a place of lack.

I’ve created a simple 21-day challenge to help you learn more about gratitude - its benefits, how to stretch your lens to see your own abundance, and with the intention of helping you create a positive habit that will serve you on your fertility journey and throughout your life.

So, won’t you join me in this year’s 21-Day Gratitude Challenge?

The premise is simple: for 21 days commit to spending at least 5 minutes each day recording what you are grateful for.

I’ll help you stay on track with a daily email including more information about the benefits of a gratitude practice and a prompt to help you get started that day.

You can share your thoughts, observations, roadblocks, and successes with me on Instagram (use #fertilegratitude), Facebook, or as a comment on this blog post.

When you complete the challenge, you will have a new life-long habit that could help you have a stronger immune system, sleep better, experience more joy, pleasure, and pleasant emotions, and feel less lonely and isolated (Source).

But don’t just take my word for it, here are a few testimonials from past challenge-takers:

[One of the key takeaways from the challenge was] you must *make* the time to think about what you are grateful for (otherwise the daily grind will distract you). There's a lot more to be thankful for than one might think on the surface.

[The 21-Day Gratitude Challenge has] been really helpful, especially the parts about scientific studies about gratitude getting in the way of toxic emotions. That is really resonating with me right now! You've really put some great things in place here, and I'm so thankful.

I'm all caught up on the gratitude challenge, and I can't tell you what a difference it is making for me. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS!

The daily quotes of inspiration were motivating.

I am looking forward to getting started. If you have any questions, just ask me.

Can’t wait to hear how it goes for you.