Among the things my youngest daughter and I share is a love of a good list. We’ve both been known to add something we’ve already done to our list, just for the pleasure of checking it off.

When everything’s clicking, it seems like a dance … action, check, action, check … the movement is fluid and we are in flow. With that flow, comes the joy.

Yet what happens when the list stops bringing you joy? When checking off those items seems more trouble than it’s worth and a slog instead of a dance?

“It’s important when we’re facing something that’s really hard for us, whether it’s doing taxes, paying bills, or visiting a challenging relative, that we lovingly support ourselves through the process,” writes Madisyn Taylor in the Daily Om. “The more supported we feel, the easier it is to open our minds to the idea that we could change our way of looking at the situation.”

Yes ma’am. More bliss often starts with a simple shift in mindset.

“In truth, most of the chores we don’t like doing are intimately intertwined with our blessings,” Madisyn continues. “When we remember this, we feel gratitude, which makes it hard to stay in a dark mood.”

Funny how it all circles back to gratitude. So today I have a better list. Instead of letting my long list of client projects bring me stress, I will offer gratitude. Instead of the “work” that needs doing in the garden, I will offer thanks for those beautiful flowers and veggie plants. Instead of being annoyed at the paperwork that needs completing for the mortgage refi, I’ll humbly recognize my good fortune to have this home near the ocean.

What’s on my list looks pretty much the same … yet how I go about them, and recognizing why they are the list in the first place, is how I turn that to-do stress into a balm for my heart.

For more thoughts on achieving more bliss in your life, enjoy 10 Little Rules for a Blissy Life.