How to Start a Gratitude Journal, even if you don’t like to journal

04 Jan How to Start a Gratitude Journal, even if you don’t like to journal

First, I feel like I should preface this with I am not a journaler. I kept a diary briefly when I was a preteen (I am pretty sure I still have it in a box in my garage somewhere), but I have never have a deep desire to jot down my feelings or whatever those who do journal write about. That being said, there is some new research backing the benefits of journalling; from an increased mindfulness, people who maintain a diary tend to be happier and report feeling more connected to themselves and their emotions, and writing down your experiences seems to help some people work through difficult issues, kinda like a personal therapy on paper. So I wanted to give it a try.

What do I write about

My first big hurdle was: what do I write about? Initially I tried to keep a traditional journal, writing down my inner more feelings about what was happening in my life on any given day. But it felt forced, and to be honest, I didn’t think my daily life needed that close of an inspection. I realize now, I had put a lot of pressure on myself to write something meaningful, something quotable and pintrest worthy. Really, how emotional was I going to get about the new reusable bags at Whole Foods, even if they do allow me to keep my perishable goods cold for FOUR HOURS?!? After about a week, I lost interest and had no desire to write another sentence. Maybe journalling wasn’t my path.

I just happened to stumble across a book (the universe witnessed my struggle and sent reinforcements). This book, or series of books are designed to help your discover yourself through a series of lists and prompts; basically, a journal guide for dummies. I kept mine in my bedside drawer and I’d fill out a few lists before I went to sleep. I actually really liked this method of “journalling”. It was easy and almost fun to mark a few things off a list, or jot down a sentence or two, but not all the prompts suited me (some of the prompts made me feel like I had to make some sort of profound statement, like I was actually writing in a diary), so after I filled in all the lists I was over this method too. Still, if your just getting started into journalling and this is a great place to start. You can get the journals on Amazon for less than $8 by clicking HERE

After I had completed just about all the lists in BOTH books, I decided I was ready to do my own thing. But I still didn’t think traditional journalling was going to be my thing; I didn’t enjoy it, which means I wouldn’t maintain it. But I am really into making lists. And the whole point of this exercise, for me at least, was finding gratitude, and creating more happiness within myself; traditionally journal was not going to make me happy, but making lists does. So I took one of those weekly calendars suppliers give our company at the beginning of every year, and every night I would write down at least 3 things I was grateful for that day. TOTALLY WORKED!

Here’s my first month:

Apparently, I started 2016 off with a cold, so I was grateful for cold medicine and being home. Ironically, I was grateful for having a body that could run exactly one week before I herniated the disc in my back. So, another advantage of maintaining a journal is being able to go back and reflect on the past a bit.

Some days, finding things to be grateful for was hard, and I really had to dig deep and the only three things I could come up with is Captain Morgan rum, diet coke to mix it with and ice to keep it cold. Yet there were other days where my heart was overflowing and the list could be endless, simply narrowing it down to three was torture. The exercise of reflecting on the day, wether it was bad, good or otherwise, helped me appreciate what I have (material and mostly not material), sometimes in spite of myself. I learned about myself: I am resilient, I am stronger than I thought, I have more good days than bad, and I am resourceful when I need to be. I am also grateful.

This year, for some reason, we did not get any calendars like I used last year. I found some simple calendars in the $1 section of Target that will work easily. I am sure this time of year the dollar store also has a selection. It doesn’t have to be expensive, it doesn’t have to be fancy. A simple spiral notebook with blank pages work too. Just commit to writing down a simple list of 3 things on most days.

That is how we journal when we aren’t journalers.

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