Gratitude journaling is how I write for myself as and when I feel like it. During the current situation, I am bound to be faced with mental blocks of not knowing what to write down. So, I have learnt that if I am having a bad day, I don’t feel the need to force myself into thinking positively or feel guilty about not writing in my gratitude journal. As explained in an article by Cosmopolitan, this is called toxic positivity. And because of this, I felt guilty for having a mental block. But those days when I struggled to find things I was grateful for, I found continual exposure to positivity – like such posts being shared on social media – developed a pressure within myself to be okay and to stay positive. I am not at all saying this is wrong and I agree that this is one of the benefits of social media and what social platforms should be used for. We are still living in uncertain times, and being active on social media, I regularly see posts about ‘how to stay positive’ during lockdown, motivational speeches and inspirational quotes. I found, being surrounded by distractions was difficult to connect with my inner-self and oftentimes I would struggle to find things to write down.Īdmittedly, in the beginning, I did become slightly obsessed. Meaning, television off, phone away, and a relaxing oil diffuser or candle on the go. One of the most important things I’ve learnt about how to write in a gratitude journal, is to be as present as possible. ![]() My gratitude journal consists of a ‘morning meditation’ and an ‘evening reflection’ as I find morning gratitude improves my mood and mentality into thinking positively as soon as I wake up (I can be a moody little git sometimes), as well as also helping me unwind and reflect on what I have felt throughout my day before going to bed. So, I recommend you do some research first into finding the right fit for you. This gave me the urge to look further into the types of gratitude journals available, and after a little bit of research, I found there to be quite a few! Some journals focus on short, list-like entries while others prompt you to explore into certain situations, memories, even dreams, and some are in-between. And as I carried on writing, I began to notice the positive change in my mindset. ![]() I simply began by using a standard day-to-day diary, where I would come up with at least three bullet-points as to why I was grateful, every day. Now, you don’t exactly need anything fancy to begin with. Some people may prefer short bullet-point entries while others may take more time in processing their gratitude with longer, descriptive entries. The way in which you do this is down to personal preference. This helps your brain focus more on the positive aspects of your life rather than automatically focusing on negative situations (as we perhaps have all been doing for a year). You may be thinking, what exactly is gratitude journaling? Well, it is merely a habit of reflecting on things that you are grateful for and recording those in a journal. Although keeping a gratitude journal is not considered a necessary role when practicing meditation, it is still an easy technique to stay grateful and benefit from. But when we witnessed the rise of the gratitude journals become the new it-trend in practicing mindfulness, I decided to give it a go (and partly because I couldn’t stop thinking about the doom and gloom of 2020).Īccording to Positive Psychology, expressing gratitude is a method of meditation which helps benefit one’s wellbeing and lead to increased levels of happiness. But as is perhaps relatable, I very rarely prioritise my own headspace because I often feel other things are more important (I’m working on it), and so writing down my thoughts or feelings has always been disregarded. And it’s not as if I’m not aware of the numerous advantages and benefits to writing down your thoughts and emotions on a piece of paper. I’ve always liked the idea of journaling, in fact every year I buy a cute new diary (who doesn’t?) in the hope I will stick to writing in it every day. But when I think about how much time I spend actually writing for myself, it’s the odd spare minute on the odd spare occasion. ![]() For the past 18 months, I have spent countless hours at my laptop typing away, as writing pretty much consumes my life. As a (blossoming) writer, I write quite a lot (if you hadn’t already guessed).
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