Gratitude Journal – Everyone Needs One
Everyone needs to have a Gratitude Journal! Do you have one? Pretty much anything can pretty be a gratitude journal – an old notebook, a loose-leaf folder, a dedicated journal notebook, an electronic document, or even a collection of scraps of papers! There is no right answer to that it physically is – whatever works best for you and your lifestyle is what you should use.
Your gratitude journal is just like a diary where you can record the events during the day for which you are grateful. A gratitude journal will become one of your most treasured items you possess! Within your journal, you will be writing down all the things for which you are grateful.
Everyday try to list 5 things that increase your gratitude levels. These entries can be anything; it can be for waking up in the morning and hearing the birds singing outside. It can be for having a car that gets you to to work each day – back and forth home to work. It can be that have you a job during these tough economic times. You can express your gratitude for living in your country. See how easy it can be?
Can this be done even when things are not going your way? Remember that time when the alarm didn’t go off an you were running around trying to get ready for work in half the time? And then your car didn’t start and you were late for work? That could be a good time NOT to write in your gratitude journal since you are surrounded by negativity!
NO! In these cases you MUST write in it! When you are at your worst, that is when you need to reflect and seek out the goodness in your life; what is around you at this moment that brings you joy, love, and gratitude? At time like this, gratitude is required! If you need to, read through your journal to get some ideas on what you were grateful for in the past. After reading a few things, your mood and spirit will shift 180 degrees and help put you back into having an Attitude of Gratitude.
There is always something that you can be grateful for during the day. Find it, and write it down. This may be difficult initially, but the more you practice it, you will find it gets easier.
Looking for a sample of what you can write? I started to list 1,001 things that bring me more Gratitude. Finally, want some more reading info? Click Gratitude Journal.
Check it out!
Be Well.
Paul.
The Gratitude Guru
Hi Paul
I too have used a gratitude journal for many years, but now I say a gratitude prayer every day when I go for a walk – it is my way of being thankful for everything in my life that has brought me to where I am today.
Might post a blog about it and share the wonder of being thankful, it is the key to a contented life
Maureen
Hi Paul,
My issue –kind of a secret shame –is that I have a very hard time actually experiencing feelings of gratitude. I have tried journals and counting my blessings and it usually feels like an intellectual,mechanical exercise that does not touch my heart the way I feel it should. I know that I have many reasons to be grateful but I so often feel so disconnected. I’m sure it has something to do with my childhood and the idea that if I was too happy aobut something it might be taken away from me, or wondering if I deserved it in the first place…but I don’t want to go back but to learn to feel more gratitude now. Any advice? Or might you post about it if you think others might also be having this challenge?
Thanks
Lisa
I start a gratitude journal and then get busy. I should make it a priority. It will help me on the bad days.
Just start your day writing.. or before you do to bed! If you leave it by your night stand!