Keeping a Gratitude diary
I kept a gratitude diary for 2 years. At this time I was going through my PND mental health journey. Some days all I would write was ‘I’ve put the laundry on today’. I no longer keep one, but the lessons I learnt have stayed with me.
Why keep a gratitude diary?
- It helps you to focus on the positive aspects of your day and your life, even if it’s only 1 thing per day.
- It helps you to put things into perspective. Often 1 negative though/word/ deed can skew our outlook for the whole day.
- Upon reading back through my diary, I learned so much. I had achieved much more than I had realised. My life was full of joy!
So how do you get started?
I used a page-a-day paper diary for the first year. The second year, I noted things down on my phone list app, at the end of each day. Each week I then transferred this to my paper diary. At the end of the year, I read them both.
The choice of how you note things down is up to you. I feel that pen and paper feels different and you have a real connection to your thoughts. The diary doesn’t need to be expensive – any notebook will do, but buying a specific one will help to make the process more special.
Consistency is key.
You may not notice a difference after a few days or even weeks. But you will start to notice more things to be grateful for.
Some prompts to help, if you get stuck:
Use all your senses – what smells are you grateful for? What tastes good? What music makes you feel good?
What body part are you grateful for?
Who makes you laugh hard?
What was the best compliment you received? How did you feel?
Let me know how you get on and what revelations you have from your gratitude diary.
