HOW TO PRACTICE GRATITUDE EVERYDAY. THE IDEAL ASSIST TO FILLING THE GRATITUDE JOURNAL.

Bonjour to yet another beautiful day..!! I wish this day brings you more smiles, happiness and glory..!! On that refreshing note, let’s begin with today's blog post.

How often do we agonize thinking about the problems we face every day?

How much do we swing between the past and future and forget the present?

Our brain is like a GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE. It displays what exactly you type in the search box. As we age, our minds are accustomed to pondering over problems, difficulties, dilemmas, hurdles and misfortunes.

If you keep searching about solutions to problems and mishaps and type PROBLEMS..PROBLEMS..PROBLEMS in the search box, your mind will tune itself to look only for solutions to difficulties rather than stop thinking about it.

BUT, if you look around, you already have so many beautiful things which you should feel grateful about. TAKE A MOMENT TO INSPECT YOUR SURROUNDINGS.  You have all that you need to lead a happy and satisfied life. 

WHY YOU SHOULD PRACTICE GRATITUDE EVERYDAY?

Studies show that 'People who are habitually grateful are happier & joyous than those who are not'. 

Furthermore studies say that, ''Feelings of gratitude have significant powers of healing mental ailments and improving the overall cardiovascular health''.

Isn't that mind-blowing?

Look at the image below, don’t you think you possess all of these and should be thankful for owning them in your life?

 HOW DID I START PRACTICING GRATITUDE EVERYDAY?

I was someone who has never heard about such a practice until I read a write-up by one of my dear friends. It was also recommended by another dear brother who insisted to start the practice along with me.

I started off by practicing gratitude in my diary and later discovered an app where I fill my thanks till date.

WHAT CHANGES DID I UNDERGO?

You won’t believe, in a week or so I started looking at things with a positive mindset. Everything around me sounded beautiful and pleasing. I felt happier and cheerful.

I started treasuring even the smallest tasks people performed around me. I became more interested in learning something every day rather than gossiping and having small loose talks.

I started motivating a lot of people and appreciated everything they accomplished.

Initially  when I started, it was hard for me to sit and think of what I was grateful for that day. But as days passed by, the process became more habitual and recalling the day’s activities and recording my gratitude became an enjoyable habit. I am infact proud of myself.

Now, I know what exactly you are thinking about.

It’s all okay that you are doing it, now explain me on how I can do this precisely? Isn’t it?

Sure..Let me explain in detail.

HOW CAN YOU PRACTICE GRATITUDE JOURNALLING?

It’s extremely simple. All you need to have is a notebook and a pen or if you are so lazy like me, I suggest that you download an application called PRESENTLY in your smartphone.

Writing down has great therapeutic properties. If you love writing, then go ahead with the traditional method. PRESENTLY is a very petite app utilizing only few MBs from your storage space.  

Every day, take a moment to recollect all those that happened on that particular day and answer these questions.

• What am I grateful about having today?

• What made me feel thankful and important today?

• To whom should I express my thanks today?

You can express your gratitude to a person who made your day, an incident that took place, something you ate, or anything big or small thing in this world. 

You don’t have to write a whole big essay, plainly few words of thanks in your comfortable language is all that it takes.

FOR EXAMPLE YOU CAN WRITE:

~ Today I’m grateful to my colleague Mr.X for helping me out in the project.

~ Today, I’m thankful to my mom for cooking the best dishes ever.

After you've filled the journal, take a moment to pause and thank that person or event wholeheartedly and then proceed.

I always fill the journal before I go to bed, but you can always do it at any time of the day. If you prefer to do it early in the morning, good going. I’ve also made it a habit to thank myself for something I have accomplished and am super proud of.  

For example I write: Today, I’m thankful to all those who spent their precious time to read my blog. I’m super proud of you Akshaya for motivating so many people. You are the best.

I thank myself because, I believe self-gratitude is the greatest of all. Love and appreciate yourself equally because self-love is the purest form of all gratitude. 

I've set a reminder to 10 PM, so that before I turn off my phone, the app reminds me to fill the journal. 

I've also encouraged few of my friends to practice the same. Have a look at their feedback too.

To also experience a change like we did, you should practice gratitude for a considerable amount of time. 

✓ I can guarantee that you will start looking at things with a positive mindset. 

✓ You will discover the good in people and appreciate it.

✓ You will also motivate others to implement this habit.

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Be sure to send me your feedback there. Also don't forget to share with people you care. 

'HAPPY JOURNALLING PALS' :)