Day 13–30 Days of Journaling for Self-Discovery: The role of gratitude in my life
It’s day 13 of my 30 days of journaling for self-discovery challenge. My previous post was about how I see forgiveness and why I choose to forgive (spoiler alert, it isn’t forgive and forget).
Today, I’m writing about gratitude’s role in my life and how I can be thankful every day.
Gratitude’s role in my life
Gratitude has an important role in my life. So much so that my first Medium article was about how a thankful mindset had increased my happiness and overall contentment.
I also mentioned how, when I first started practicing gratitude in my 20s, my attempts were flippant and cynical because I was depressed and couldn’t think of anything I was genuinely thankful for.
At the time, I’d heard about the benefits that come with being thankful, and I thought gratitude was going to be a magic pill that solved all my problems. Spoiler alert — it wasn’t.
Over the years, however, I kept hearing about the benefits that come with being thankful and so I tried gratitude again. This time, instead of hurriedly writing things down in my journal, I started to take the time to reflect on my day.
In doing so, I started to notice the following changes
- I was more mindful throughout the day
- I appreciated what I had rather than dwelling on what I felt I lacked.
- I stopped brushing aside negative emotions and instead embraced them
I wrote about my practice in January. However, my practice is always evolving. I know there are things I can do to be more thankful for the people in my life and the things I have experienced.
This leads to ways I can be thankful every day
Here are three things I can do to enhance my gratitude practice so that I am thankful each day.
1: letting go of comparison
Of myself to others and of the things I wish I had. I only recently realized how compassion stops me from focusing on the things I have.
2: Embracing my inner child
I’ve been drinking slushies with gummy bears recently, and they're delicious and cute and they bring me so much joy. Something else I have been loving is the pecanbon from Cinnabon.
3: Being mindful of what gratitude feels like to me
Being mindful of what gratitude feels like requires taking time to think about:
- how I feel emotionally and physically
- where in my body I feel these sensations
Doing this allows me to hold on to the moments I am thankful for while taking note of the feelings underpinning each moment.
Conclusion
Gratitude has played an invaluable role in my journey of self-discovery and its impact on my happiness and contentment has been undeniable.
As my practice evolves, I am committed to remaining grounded in gratitude as I know that my practice has played a huge role in shaping my perspective and enriching my experience.
Hasn’t A Clue posts about Gratitude
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