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One of the easiest and most popular ways to start practicing gratitude is to begin a gratitude journal. A gratitude journal is a powerful way to start expressing your thankfulness and gratefulness today because it forces you to stop and acknowledge the good things happening in your life right now, the ones you might normally graze right over or take for granted. Forcing yourself to pay attention to these seemingly mundane aspects of life helps you to see the beauty and appreciate the positive things in life almost automatically. You begin to attune yourself to all the amazing things - big and small - that happen to you every single day. The best part? Being grateful attracts more things to be grateful for.
There’s no right or wrong way to start your gratitude journal, either. The best way to get started is the way that works for you and the way that you’ll stick to for the long run. You can opt to start out simply by taking time out of each day to make a list of things you are grateful for. You might notice that your list starts out by naming physical things but that quickly you start acknowledging deeper and more meaningful aspects of your life. How much you do and how much detail you add is up to you! Maybe you start with just 5 things, adding to the list each day.
Another popular option is to use the journal to go over the positive aspects of your day. Every afternoon or night you can mentally run through your entire day, picking out the situations that you might have missed as you were living them.
Perhaps you’d even like to start with journal prompts- simple statements that help inspire you or conjure up an idea of what to write about. This is helpful if you’re feeling a bit of writer’s block or if you’d like your journal to dive a little deeper into the aspect of gratitude. For example:
When it comes down to it, the most important thing to remember when getting started with a gratitude journal is that you’ve got to commit to it and cement it into your daily activities. The more momentum you gain with your journaling the more likely you are to not only continue to practice it but also to reap the rewards. And the benefits don’t end when you’ve finished putting your pen to paper, either! Each and every time you read back over what you’ve written, you can re-inspire yourself and soak up the gratitude all over again.
Each morning and evening you will receive a text asking what you're grateful for. You then simply reply to the text (as if you're texting a friend), and your gratitude entry gets securely stored in your account to access forever.
