What are you grateful for today?

We all have those days. From the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed everything  seems to have gone wrong. From the alarm not going off, to being stuck in traffic and being late for that important meeting at work, to stepping into a huge puddle and ruining your new super delicate shoes. It’s on those days you just want to hide away from the world and escape in fear of the next thing that will go wrong. Your mood is foul and if anyone dares to say the wrong thing to you or get in your way they’ll definitely know about it. 

But how often have you stopped, and thought about something that has actually gone right for you that day? Maybe someone let you out at the junction on the way to work or someone made you a coffee when you really needed it. Or it could be something you take for granted and don’t even consider, such as a roof over your head, food on the table and a job that pays the bills. All too often we notice all the things going wrong and forget to notice the things going right. Even on the worst of days, there’s always something to be grateful for. It may just be a small thing, but there’s always something to be found. 

According to the Secret, what we think, we attract. So when one bad thing happens to us, we think that everything will go wrong that day and we will just have a completely ‘bad day’ as we are attracting these things. However, by taking a moment to be grateful for something, we can actually turn the day around and end it on a positive note instead of a negative one.

Wherever you believe the message of The Secret and in the universe or not, being grateful allows you to be a happier and more fulfilled person. So how can you practice gratitude? Here are just a few things you can do:

1. Keep a gratitude journal. I discovered this amazing pair of books online and totally love them.

Find them on Amazon here.

The Instant Happy Journal in particular allows you over the course of the year to complete a page each day, each new page offering something different. I tend to flick through the book and choose a page that I can relate my day to. Pages vary from ‘3 things I’m grateful for’ to ‘reasons why today has been one of the best days of my life’ and plenty of other things in between. The other book contains quotes that really make you think, and again I like randomly flicking to a page and seeing what it lands on, such as: 

Be sure to check out the author’s Instagram page for lots more awesome quotes @notsalmon too, I’m a real fan of her feed.

This is just one way to keep a gratitude journal. You may just want to keep it simple and use a notebook, filling up the pages with your daily enteries . I like to fill in my journal at the end of the day to go to bed feeling grateful, but it would also be nice to do in the morning when you wake to start the day in the best possible way. 

2. Have a gratitude jar. Similar to above really, but you can use little post it notes or small pieces of paper. Simply write something that you are grateful for that day and then pop it in the jar. You can use a jar you already have and personalise it, or maybe treat yourself to a ready made one like Like this. And then, perhaps after a year, you can read all the things you have been thankful for that year. It would be fab to do this on New Year’s Eve to reflect on the year.

3. Write a gratitude letter. I bet there’s plenty of people in your life that you’re grateful for. So why not tell them? A good experience for you, and a lovely read for them. In turn, maybe they might write one back to you. Let’s share the warm fuzzy feelings! 

So these are just a few ways you can practice gratitude. There’s research that shows that doing so is good for your mind as well as your body, so what’s stopping you?

 

Let me know in the comments what you are grateful for. Do you practice gratitude? Please share any other things you do, I would love to know!

Until next time…

Jean xoxo