As a person who tends to get stressed out very easily, it is very easy for me to focus only on the negative things that have happened to me, and forget about all the good things that have happened in my life.
That’s why I thought about keeping a gratitude journal.
A gratitude journal is basically a place where you keep a record of all the good things that happens to you, like when your boss tells you did a good job, or when you get a really thoughtful present from someone or when you have a really good time with your friends, family and/or loved ones.
The point of a gratitude journal is to have a different way to count your blessings and to remind yourself that even if bad things happen, there are times when good things happen to you as well.
There are a few articles on the internet that talk about gratitude journals.
This one for example, from Positive Psychology Program titled, “Gratitude Journal: 67 Templates, Ideas, and Apps for Your Diary” goes into a lot of detail about what a gratitude journal is, how to start one, different ways you can write one and the positive effects it has on you.
According to them a gratitude journal helps to:
- Alleviate stress.
- Help calm you down.
- Give you a new perspective on things.
- Help you focus on what really matters.
- Lift your spirits when you read it after having a bad day.
There’s also this wikipedia article titled, “Gratitude journal” that talks about the subject, but bear in mind that it is wikipedia so there might be some inconsistencies. I find it to be rather informative though.
Now, while I think keeping a gratitude journal is a good idea, I don’t know how consistent I’ll be with one, I’m pretty lazy that way. Still I figure I might as well make a start, and what better place than to do it here. I’m going to make my gratitude journal in a bullet points fashion because that’s just easiest for me. If you decide to make your own gratitude journal you can make it any way you want though, like a diary, an essay or whatever. Well here goes:
Gratitude Journal entry 1:
- I have a job that pays me well enough.
- Most of my colleagues are friendly and nice people.
- I have a roof over my head.
- I can pay for my own expenses.
- I can afford to treat myself every now and then (not too often though, I need to save my money too).
- I have a family that loves me and supports me in what I do.
- I have friends that care for me.
- I have an outlet (this blog) where I can say what I want.
Well that’s about it for now. The internet says you should make your journal as detailed as possible, especially when you are talking about a particular event that made you happy, so that you can look back at it and remember it more easily. I might do that for some things but otherwise I think I’ll leave it like this, at least for now.
Anyway that’s about it for this post. I hope you liked it and that you have a nice day ahead.
Alternative Yoga 