The people who are grateful and practice gratitude tend to live an easygoing, happy, and joyful life. They cherish the moments in their present and reflect on the blessings and opportunities around them. Gratitude journals are a source of keeping a record of the thoughts, things, gifts, and relationships that you are blessed with.
When you are in grief, depression, experience sadness, irritability, or frustration from the disturbing and gloomy events in your life, gratitude journals provide you with a sense and purpose of life. Adopting the habit of a gratitude journal ensure that you can experience the moments and opportunities in your life to the most.
Here are ten easy wayson how you can start and create and start a gratitude journal.
Table of Contents
1. Choose a Journal
You should make the ritual of gratitude journal fun and stimulate, so choose something that defines who you are and what you like and believe in. You don’t need to spend a sum of money on a fancy journal, instead choose a notebook where you can add pictures, quotes, newspaper cuttings, or inspirational words.
2. Feeling and Believing
Creating a gratitude journal is not a decision to be made reluctantly or even waiting for the right time. Instead, there is no right time and try to be true to yourself and write what you feel and believe in. Write your journal with a conscious thought process.
There is no more or less for the gratitude journal to feel the pressure on yourself. Be easy on yourself and try not to fix a pattern that says you have to write five things in a day. There are days when you will have one thing to write about, and days when you can fill up a page and that is perfect.
3. Make a Routine
Try and set up a routine when you want to write and express gratitude in your journal. Choose a time that is your time, and when there are no other work or family commitments. It will allow you to focus on your day and the events that you feel grateful for in life.
4. Explore and Question the Why
You are an intelligent and logical human being, so try to add meaning and sense to the words and phrases that you write. When you mention that you are grateful for the food, job, or children you have, question why. Answer that why and express gratitude, and you will experience that answering the why will take you down to memories of more blessings.
5. Focus on Relations
Yes, I know you love your mobile phone and your home, but these are materials, and they provide comfort somehow. But indeed, they don’t understand you or make you feel welcomed, loved, or warm like your parents and family does.
Your friends are the source of support for you, and they stand by you in the difficult times. Focus on the healthy and loving relationships around and write more about them, add pictures, messages, and hand notes that you shared with your relationships.
6. Surprise Events
Unexpected and surprise events, memories, and experiences are a part of life, and when you feel them, remember to write. It is a life-changing moment when you get an unexpected gift, praise, or visit of someone you love, your boss, or a friend. It will make you have an adrenaline rush apart from the routine and mundane stuff.
7. Add Novelty
Our lives are indeed usual most of the time, but every new day is an opportunity, so make the most of it. Try to add novelty in your gratitude journal, expand and experience the world around you with focus and awareness. Appreciate the minimal and uncounted things in your life.
8. Creativity
Words and words make and sound boring and demotivating. Be creative in your approach, rather than make a gratitude list all day repeatedly, use photos, hand notes, and even poems and quotes of your favorite writers.
9. Commitment
The first few days you have been writing, and you feel it is not working. Well, that is because you are learning and adopting a habit. Experts believe that, on average, it can take about three weeks for a practice to form. Give yourself and the gratitude journal a fair chance to experience the meditating and soothing effect on yourself.
10.Reward Yourself
People often prefer an immediate reward for the effort they make in life, and the gratitude journal deserves one too. Select a motivating reward of your choice and treat yourself each time you write in the journal.
The expert on the science of gratitude, Robert Emmons said,
“Writing helps you to organize your thoughts, facilitate integration, and helps you accept your own experiences and put them in context. In essence, it allows you to see the meaning of events going on around you and create meaning in your own life.”
