So, yeah, it will be a proverbial 5 pounds. But I promise you’ll feel lighter, like a weight has lifted, and others will see it.

A couple of fellow bloggers (Tales from the Motherland and Musing Off the Mat) posted comments to my piece from last Saturday, 50 happy things from 2014, letting me know they were going to write lists of their own. Then at dinner with friends last night, a couple of women told me they’d given their husbands the challenge – that it was just the ticket for a grumpy afternoon.

Dawn at Tales from the Motherland suggested (I agree!) that we should make this “a thing,” that we should encourage other bloggers, followers and friends to build a flood of gratitude with this simple writing challenge:

• Set a timer for 10 minutes (or any other amount of time you like, but 10 would be a good starting place).
• Write as many good things from 2014 as you can remember. If you need something to jog your memory, take a minute to look through your photo stream or day planner.
• Don’t worry about how many things you can list, just write. If you get stuck, write something like “having warm water” or “not running out of toilet paper yesterday” – anything to keep your brain going.
• Don’t feel like sitting alone to write just your stuff? Do it as a family or group of friends over dinner. Set the timer and start talking. Record it, if you want, or ask one person to scribe.

Feeling better already, eh? (Be gone, 5 lbs., be gone!) How about sharing the idea with others so they’ll feel better too? And if you feel like sharing your list, post a link in the comments below.

Happy writing. And special thanks to The Daily Post for the 10 minute free-write prompt last week that got me started on this year’s look back. It’s been a great year.