journalFourteen days ago I wrote the article Gratitude Journal: 30 Days To Happiness. In it I explain what a gratitude journal is and the idea behind it. I also initiated a 30 day challenge for any of you who were interested and I’m glad that some of you chose to participate! We are about half way through the 30 day challenge and I wanted to share with you my thoughts and what I’ve gained from this experience so far.

1. There really is a lot to be grateful for. Initially I thought I would do well for the first few days, covering the big obvious things that I was grateful for – surely this would be easy. Things like my family, our house, our cars, my husband’s job etc. I was sure that once those were out of the way I would run out of things to write down or it would take me a very long time each night to come up with a new list of five items. I was pleasantly mistaken. It’s obvious to me now that I can find something to be grateful for in nearly every situation throughout the day. They don’t have to be big things. In fact a lot of the things I’m grateful for are small and simple and are often over looked, such as a kiss out of the blue from my son, when Gwynn wakes me up with coffee every morning, the snow plough that cleared the street so we could get around.

2. The most helpful entries are on bad days. I’ve had a couple of tough days so far during this challenge, but I have not missed a single day of writing five things I’m grateful for. In fact, I’m a lot more conscious of taking a moment when I am having a hard time to ask myself “What about this is positive?” “What good can I see here?” or “What good can come of it?” The benefit of keeping a gratitude journal in this respect is twofold:

  • It helps put that particular negative incident into perspective and;
  • It helps me get out of a bad spot a lot quicker than it would have taken me otherwise. I’m basically programming my mind to think positive thoughts.

3. Being grateful helps to sort out priorities. Writing things that are positive, that make me happy and that I’m grateful for helps clarify my priorities and highlights what is truly important to me. It’s a lot easier writing in my journal on the days that I spend a lot of quality time with my family, visiting friends or finding some quiet time for myself. Turns out these are things that I value a lot in my life as well. Now that this is apparent to me (consciously or subconsciously) I look for opportunities everyday to incorporate one or all of those things. I now make them my priority.

4. Shuffles out the negativity and promotes living in the moment. By focusing on finding the positive side to every situation there is very little room for negative thoughts or worrying. It has also helped me a lot with trying to live in the moment which isn’t always an easy task. When you are spending your time looking for things that are positive and that you’re grateful for in the moment, you can’t help but BE in that moment. The thoughts of what we’re going to do next week or next month are rather inconsequential as I’m truly enjoying and am totally wrapped up in what I’m doing. I feel calmer, less anxious and less stressed. For this reason alone this exercise has been worthwhile.

Those are a few of the things that I have noticed in only 14 days of keeping a gratitude journal and now…you guessed it…it’s YOUR turn. 

Those of you participating in the 30 day challenge (you know who you are :) ) I’d love to hear your experiences so far over the past 14 days. Is it easier or harder than you first thought? What have been your biggest “Ah-ha” moments, if any? Are you noticing a more positive outlook on your life and in your interaction with others? Feel free to share any other thoughts, tips or suggestions you’ve come across. If you’re not participating in this challenge but you’ve kept a gratitude journal in the past or are still keeping one, can you relate to what I’ve observed so far? Did you have similar feelings or experiences?

See also:

Gratitude Journal: 30 Days To Happiness

The World Around You Is An Amazing Place – Take Time To See It

7 Little Things That Make Me Disproportionately Happy

 

Photo courtesy of: Paul Worthington

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Wednesday is Happiness day at Serene Journey. We will try and focus on ideas and philosophies that are aimed at making your life a little happier one step at a time. If you have any suggestions for this series feel free to drop us an email or leave them in the comments.