In these uncertain times, it’s easy sometimes to feel like the world is all doom and gloom. The coronavirus and the war between Ukraine and Russia can dampen your spirits. Nevertheless, no matter your situation, there is an abundance of things to be grateful for.
You can be grateful for the resilience of health workers or your family’s kindness. Yes, there are many reasons for gratitude! So, if you ever feel like your world is crashing, learn how to write a gratitude journal andself care journal. But how can you know that? Let’s find out!
A Guide To Writing Your Gratitude Journal
A gratitude journal is similar to a manifestation journal or even a self-care journal because the contents are almost identical. If you write down what you’re grateful for every day in your gratitude journal, you will notice a remarkable improvement in your overall outlook on life.
Before you get started, understand how this can change your life. The human brain is wired to tend to see the negative before the positive. It is a survival mechanism that helps us to recognize dangerous situations.
So, as we live in these worrisome times, it is not surprising that our brains gravitate towards fear, anxiety, and doubt. However, you can utilize gratitude to program your brain into seeing positivity and Illumination in these times. Here’s how you can get started on your gratitude journal:
Step 1
The first step on your journey is to make updating your journal a habit. The same way you’d keep a prayer journal and make it a habit to update it, a gratitude journal needs the same routine and dedication. Try to make the time you write your journal a time you’re always looking forward to.
Choose the time of the day you want to write your journal. It can be first thing in the morning or later in the cool of the evening. To simply put, be consistent every day. You may write your journal with a cup of tea or play your favorite song in the background. Be sure to make the experience feel relaxed and comfortable, as this would help you put your mind in a great space.
Step 2
After you have gotten a great relaxation spot, write! There isn’t any laid down format on how to write a gratitude journal; all you have to do is pour it out as you see fit. Every day, you should have a list of ten things you’re grateful for. Yes, some items may be the same as the other days, but it doesn’t matter. It is okay to be thankful for the same things every day. If you’re unsure what you are grateful for, the next step will give you some hints.
Step 3
Have you ever been in a situation that was bad but not as bad as you thought it could get? For example, your son is stopped by the police for overspeeding and has to do some jail time, and even though you know it’s something terrible, at least you’re grateful he didn’t get shot? Yeah, this type of gratitude is called counterfactual gratitude. It is helpful for you to think about what you still have and remember how worse it could have been.
Counterfactual gratitude is a great way to start your gratitude journal. Write out a list of things that didn’t go your way, but also write how grateful you are that it didn’t get much worse.
Conclusion
Being grateful is a choice that you must choose to make every day. It is sometimes difficult to be thankful, especially when things aren’t going your way. However, a mindset of gratitude will help set your brain where it starts to see possibilities. Knowing how to write a gratitude journal is what you need if you’ve been feeling gloomy lately.