Over and over I’ve heard of the importance of keeping a gratitude journal. Gratitude opens the heart allowing us the joy of receiving and giving. When we are grateful we experience joy, fulfillment, peace and a flow of love. It can be the antidote to greed, envy, sadness, loss and fear. Cultivating gratitude is just one of those things that improves our lives exponentially and in every way.
But try as I might, my gratitude journal lasts about 3 days and then stops with months between entries. My main difficulty is that, although the gratitude flows freely for the first few days (mainly because I have started on a day I am feeling rather upbeat), within a few days my mood will have shifted and then it feels like I am forcing it, trying to be grateful when I really am not.
So how do I continue a gratitude journal when I really am not feeling grateful? I refuse to be disingenuous!
Angeles Arrien just may have the solution to my problem. In her CD box set “Gratitude” she recommends thinking about what a miserable day you’ve had (I can do that!) and then taking time to write what you’ve learned from the day or a blessing that may have come out of the day or giving thanks that the day is simply over and that you are in a better place now than you were (I can do that too!).
Funny enough, I am able to see the silver lining in most circumstances, however when it came to writing in my journal I really had a block about it.
If you’re not a journaller, Angeles gives some other great practices to cultivate gratitude which she credits Robert Emmons. One of them that I really love is to practise gratitude through action — send a thank you note or tell someone how grateful you are for them (I think there were more examples, however, they don’t come to mind at the moment and I would need to listen to the whole CD again to find it).
So here it goes. Tonight before bed, I’m starting my gratitude journal. Care to start with me? I’d love to hear how it goes for you.
For more information on, or ways to incorporate gratitude into your life, Robert Emmons book “Gratitude Works” may help. Here’s a short video with Robert. If you care to dive into a lengthier and more informative video, you’ll find his other one on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6c97e2yCw4