Have you ever found yourself feeling down-and-out about everything? A gratitude journal can help boost your mood and change your perspective. Here are three reasons to keep a gratitude journal, plus three ways to make them work for you.
WHY YOU SHOULD KEEP A GRATITUDE JOURNAL
A gratitude journal will keep you looking for things to be grateful for throughout your day. You’ll find contentment in the feeling of sunshine on your skin or the sound of rain on the roof; you’ll feel a heightened sense of happiness when you run into a friend at the store; you’ll have a newfound anticipation of splashing your face with cool water in the morning or taking a hot shower at the end of the day. It’s the little things in life, y’all.
You’ll find yourself feeling grateful for people, places, or things that you may have taken for granted. You never know what you have until it’s gone, or at least until you imagine not having it. I love my reading chair, but rarely did I ever really think back to the time before I had it in my office. Now, every time I sit in it, I am reminded of how much I appreciate the time it took my grandma to reupholster it, the time I spent deciding which fabric to use, and how long it took to clean up our storage room into the functioning office where it sits.
Daily gratitude gives you a more positive outlook on life. You may notice yourself shrugging off things that typically would have bothered you or even ruined your day. Stuck in traffic? You’ll be more likely to sing along to the song on the radio than groan at the person in front of you. Is it cloudy outside? You’ll be more likely to open up the windows and enjoy the breeze rather than be upset you can’t catch rays at the pool. You’ll be a much
happier person when you focus on the good!
MAKE YOUR GRATITUDE JOURNAL WORK FOR YOU
When you start your gratitude journal, keep these 3 key habits in mind:
- Be specific. Of course, you are grateful for your friends and family, but why? Which friend are you particularly thankful for today? Are you just thankful for your aunt, or the way she selflessly helped your grandma by driving her home from the family reunion? The more specific you are, the more effective your gratitude journal will be.
- Try to come up with different points each day. I could list 10 things I am grateful for right off the bat, but if I am writing those same 10 things every day, I’m not giving myself room to be creative or to find something new to appreciate. It’s totally okay to repeat items from day to day, so long as your list isn’t identical to the previous day. You’d be surprised what you can come up with when you dig deep!
- It doesn’t have to be perfect. It took me so long to start a gratitude journal because I wanted the perfect notebook, the perfect layout for my list, error-free handwriting… but y’all, let’s be real, life isn’t always Instagram-worthy! The outside of my journal is super cute, but the inside isn’t anything special visually. It’s all about the heart in the words on the page.
Do you keep a gratitude journal? If you’ve never tried it before, I challenge you to write out 10 different things your are grateful for each day this week. Leave me a comment about your results!
xoxo, Erin
Special thanks to Alicia Lokai for inspiring me to start my gratitude journal and teaching me these key habits!
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