I recently finished reading Oprah’s book “What I Know for Sure.” One of the chapters in it referenced a gratitude journal, which I had never heard of before. After doing some of my own research on the matter, I learned that it’s basically a journal where you write down 3-5 things you are grateful for every day. The reasoning behind it is simple: if you focus on things you are grateful for, it slowly changes your perspective about the world around you. Oprah goes into more detail about this during one of her Lifeclass sessions:
After watching this video, I started to keep a Gratitude Journal electronically on Google Docs about 3 weeks ago, and I wanted to take a moment to share my experience with it.
- The first few days are tough. I ended up spending a lot of time thinking about what I was grateful for when I started out. Don't worry, it gets easier.
- Your awareness will increase. As I went through each day, I started to notice the “small” things that matter. Sometimes it’s as simple as someone smiling at you on the train, and other times it’s your boss giving you a compliment.
- Positivity will become more natural. I have RBF in my natural state, but as I started to notice things to be grateful for, I started to become more positive in general.
- Keep it simple. I started out with an iPhone app that was supposed to give me daily alerts and trend my journal entries with analytics, but the app was more buggy than helpful. I eventually scrapped the app and kept a Google Doc online. I also keep a “gratitude note” open on my iPhone and jot things down as I go through the day, which makes my evening journaling much simpler.
- When you are having a bad day, read an entry from your journal. Trust me, you will still have bad days. When you do, having that journal is a quick way to remind yourself about all of the great things you have in your life.
People who know me professionally at work know I can be pretty uptight and b!tchy (I work in management, after all). One day I was walking on the pediatric nursing unit and passed by an infant in a rocking chair with an IV line. He was just sleeping, and fighting for his life (presumably); yet, here I was complaining about whatever problem I was dealing with at that moment. In an instant, my mood changed and I remembered to be grateful for living and for my life.
As I wrote this forum post, I decided to look at some of my old journal entries. Here are some of my favorites from the past 3 weeks:
- Cold-brewed iced coffee
- Meetings that end early
- Getting a good workout
- Talking to my brother on the phone after work
- Getting a compliment
- Early morning shopping at Target
- Waking up without an alarm clock
- The smell of fresh bed sheets out of the laundry
- Cute dogs
- Sleeping when it’s raining outside
- Getting emails from friends I haven’t spoken with in awhile
- Enjoying a beer on a Friday night
- Saturday afternoon naps
Anyway, I just wanted to share something with you guys that I think will have a huge impact on me spiritually. I encourage you to practice the art of gratitude in whichever way you can. I don’t think keeping a journal has, all of a sudden, made everything in my life better (let’s be realistic). However, I do think this daily exercise has conditioned me to notice all of the wonderful blessings I have in my life.
So, what do you do to practice gratitude?