Recently I saw a suggestion to keep a "gratitude journal." The idea involves recording in it the little and big things that you appreciate. It sounds like a wonderful way to shift focus away from the negative things that drag down your spirits. Instead of thinking about all the problems that threaten to overwhelm you, take a few minutes each day to think of good things.
We take so many things for granted, that it might be hard to think at first of something in a grateful way. Maybe there are bills to pay, too many meetings to attend and a difficult person to handle. Sometimes our thinking gets stuck in negative mode and it all seems a bit overwhelming.
Shift your thinking for just a moment. I could be glad that I'm able to hold down a job so I can pay my bills. I could appreciate that my opinions count for something and that groups want me at their meetings. I could be thankful that over the years I've learned to respond calmly to upset people. Same situations, but different thinking.
Filling in the pages of the gratitude journal would force us to start thinking beyond the big things in our lives. We would get beyond the obvious such as being grateful for a comfortable home or a caring spouse. Finding some things to note down every day would expand our view. It would force us to really look around at the smaller things that make up our lives. Let's try it out, by looking around right this minute at all that surrounds us.
I'm grateful for:
* living in a climate where I can be active outside in winter
* having more books to read than I'll ever have time for
* getting good enough at golf that I'm no longer embarrassed to play
* having a computer literate family so we can keep in touch by email
This starts to get addictive. After you write down a couple, your mind brings up more and more. I’ll have to stop now, as I’m out of space. Probably one should get a good-sized notebook before starting to write a gratitude list. Once the mind shifts into gratitude mode, it’s hard to stop.