This seems an appropriate time of year to be thinking about blessings and things that you are grateful for. And a lot of us do! Let’s try an experiment this year, though. Let’s keep it up all year long!
This year, start making a daily entry in your journal describing something for which you are thankful. Being mindful of your blessings and gifts accomplishes several goals, all of which are probably on your list of things to do.
- Being thankful will get your day off to a great start or close it down on a positive note. Simply being mindful of your blessings will help you focus on the good in life.
- Writing down your gifts will help you appreciate what you have. Too often, the saying goes, “You don’t know what you have until it’s gone.” Don’t be one of those people. Know what you have by taking regular inventory.
- Thankfulness can lift you out of depression. Yes, you read that right. Being thankful and positive in your journal can actually change the balance of chemicals in your brain that control your mood. Now, it may not be a cure-all for the clinically depressed. You still need to stay in touch with your medical provider. But keeping a thankful journal is quite likely to lift the occasional blue mood for most people.
- Mindfulness will help you express gratitude. Often, you will find yourself being grateful for people in your life or for something that someone has done for you. Your journal can prompt you to say something. Consider how you feel when you learn that you’ve had a positive impact on someone’s life. Now go and share that feeling with someone in your life by telling them how they’ve affected you.
- Your entries in your thankfulness journal are great to look back upon. When things aren’t going well, they will give you an opportunity to put things into perspective. Most of our problems aren’t as bad as they seem at the time, and even the insurmountable difficulties will eventually settle down. Rereading your thankfulness journal is a great way to keep that in mind as you go through life’s ups and downs.