Starting a gratitude journal
Happy Monday!
I hope you had a great weekend. We are over halfway through our stage 4 restrictions in Melbourne and COVID cases are going down. A few days ago numbers were under 100 for the first time in two months. Tj and I are really looking forward to when this lockdown is over.
Saturday was a beautiful sunny day! It was t-shirt weather for the first time in so long. I did some Spring cleaning on the balcony and it was warm enough that we were able to keep the doors open all day. It would have been the perfect day to hit a patio with some friends, but at least we were able to get some fresh air and sit outside for a bit.
A few weeks ago I wrote about mindfulness and some of the benefits of adding meditation to your life.
Today I wanted to write about gratitude.
Gratitude is the quality of being thankful or a feeling of appreciation for kindness.
In the online course I am taking, we learned about how expressing gratitude can make you happier, reduce stress, and increase optimism. Gratitude can make us focus on what we have rather than worry about what we are lacking.
This article presents some easy ways you can practice gratitude:
Think about someone for whom you are grateful.
Write a gratitude letter to someone for whom you are thankful. Consider sending it or giving it to them in person.
Count your blessings - at the end of the day, write down three things for which you are grateful.
Practice saying thank you in a real and meaningful way. Be specific.
Write thank-you notes.
Recall a negative event to help you appreciate your current situation.
I am going to write more about what I learned from this online course, but for the final few weeks, our homework was to practice changing our habits and incorporating new behaviours that are proven to make people happier.
I chose to focus on gratitude.
I have started my own gratitude journal and I am having so much fun with it. Every day I write down three things I am grateful for. It’s only been a week but I am enjoying it so far. And surprisingly, I already feel more grateful. It can be difficult to be positive when we are in lockdown and feel a bit helpless about a lot of things. But taking a few minutes to write down a few of the small things that turn an ok day into a good day has really made me feel more grateful. I am grateful for the perfect chai latte, or the technology that keeps me feeling connected to loved ones around the world. I’m also grateful for all the dog videos on Tiki’s Tok which are providing me with a lot of entertainment haha.
Even counting your blessings once or twice a week can have a positive impact on your wellbeing - try it out for yourself this week!
