“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude make sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
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I learned about the importance of gratitude as a child, but it didn’t resonate with me until I read this quote by Melody Beattie back in the mid 1990’s. I started a gratitude journal back then, and it changed my life. Each morning or night I would write 3 to 5 things down that I was grateful for that day. It didn’t have to be anything outrageous, nothing was ever too big or too small to mention, although sometimes there were some pretty fantastic things to list. Some days the list would be as simple as “I’m grateful for this warm bed and a good night sleep”. Other days would be “I’m so grateful for time away with my husband, my best friend”. Or another was “I’m grateful for my son being happy today and his adorable laugh and my sweet daughter taking a 2 hour nap”.
The point behind keeping a gratitude journal is learning to be consciously thankful. In this busy world we live in today, we are constantly looking ahead with wants, needs and desires that sometimes we forget to stop, reflect, look back or with-in and be present and give thanks for what already exists in our lives. Keeping a gratitude journal will change your perspective and transform how you look at you life. As time passes and you fill your journal, you will notice a shift in yourself. You will began to notice the simplest things and feel their blessings. Your heart and soul will feel full, and you will begin to focus on the good and forget more of the bad. There is an ancient spiritual law that states: “The more you have and are grateful for, the more will be given you”.
I encourage you to go out today and find a blank book that makes you happy and enjoy filling it with the simplest details of your daily gratefulness. I promise you - you will be glad you did!