Start by saying “thank you,” its a lot easier when you’re groggy and rubbing the sleep out of your eyes to say “thank you for this bed, thank you for this home to sleep in, and thank you for today.” Once you’ve gotten into the habit of saying thank you in the morning, start saying “I’m grateful for…” and let the inspiration come. Sometimes I’m grateful for the same three things, three days in a row. But other times there are little sparks of joy that I remember from yesterday or even further back that I recall and show my gratitude for.
Today I woke up feeling down, which I think is due to a dip in my natural hormones. So my gratitude practice looked like this:
- I’m grateful for feeling down this morning BECAUSE its a reminder of how things were before and how far I’ve come in my mental health journey.
- I’m grateful for dual kitty snuggles last night! Zoya & Olena slept on both sides of my feet alllllllll night. Just like movie cats.
- I’m grateful that my husband is understanding when I am feeling depressed and down.
What are you doing to connect to your Spirituality? email me…
I can’t believe its been five years since I started this practice, and like everyone, I ebbed and flowed with the frequency of my gratitude practice. No one is perfect. But recently I found this gratitude practice again. I first found the Five Minute Journal in the Fall of 2014 and started writing down 3 things I was grateful for every morning before I got out of bed. My husband and I even got into the practice of sharing those 3 things we were grateful for each morning before getting out of bed too.
Its no secret that positive people are happy people. But its not always easy to be happy every single day because life happens. Give yourself the best chance and a huge head start on your daily happiness by adopting the practice of thankfulness. Since I’ve found my way back to the Five Minute Journal and practicing thinking about 3 things I’m grateful for before getting out of bed each morning, I’ve re-discovered their digital app version of the journal. And honestly, I’ve been loving it. I love seeing the inspirational quote each time I load the app, and I also have been taking a photo of myself each time I fill out the journal, which has been really fun to look back at, to see just how awake I was each morning. Here is the app on android and apple. *this post is not sponsored*
Things to Remember:
- You might forget, and that’s okay. The important part is to do the gratitude work the moment you realized you forgot to.
- Say it out loud or write them down.
- It’s perfectly alright to be grateful for the little mundane things like your coffee or tea.
Since I have started this practice, I’ve found that I have a much happier and gracious outlook on my life, even when there are bad days. Being consciously grateful first thing in the morning helps me prime and set my thoughts for the day onto a more positive path than just waking up and rolling out of bed.
