Expressing Gratitude
Last month’s blog was about living in the moment. Expressing gratitude on a regular basis is one way to help us stay present and to live in the moment.
For the past couple of months, I have been keeping a gratitude journal. A friend of mine said that we should both start writing things we are grateful for each and every day. Funny enough, I had a gratitude journal that I had started a couple of years back after reading “The Gratitude Diaries” by Janice Kaplan (which I highly recommend).
I went out and bought a journal specifically to write out all the things I am grateful for. At that period in my life, I was not journaling on a regular basis, and after a few days I stopped writing and the journal started to collect dust on the shelf of my nightstand.
When my friend mentioned the gratitude journal, I quickly found mine and started writing in it again. I am proud to say that I have been writing in it daily since mid-September and I have noticed a difference in my perspective towards life. Even when I have a “bad” or “off” day, I can still find gratitude and appreciation in the little things that happened. There have been many days when I have repeated the same things such as being grateful for my family, friends and where I’m living. It just shows how important the people in my life and certain things are to me.
I have also noticed the little things more, such as the kindness in people. I have found appreciation and gratitude towards little gestures or kindness when people are “just doing their job”.
I feel that I have a more positive outlook on life as well as being mindfully present in the daily moments. There are things in life I used to take for granted, but now I am more aware and appreciate them a lot more.
The Expressing Gratitude Challenge
For the month of December I challenge you dear readers, to write out one reason why you are grateful every day for the next 31 days. If you want more of a challenge, write out two, three or even five reasons why you are grateful.
Before you start this challenge, write down how you feel right now. What do you think you’ll learn or notice after this challenge?
One you complete the challenge, write down how you feel. Do you notice a difference in how you think or feel compared to when you started the challenge?
If you need help being accountable, feel free to reach out to me.
If you enjoyed the challenge, keep going! The longer we spend time being grateful, the more we change our outlook on all things in our lives – from our relationships with family, friends, partners, children, to our relationship with work and everything in between.
