I Wrote Down Something I Was Grateful For Every Day For 128 days
And here are my insights
Practising gratitude can be a real life changer. When done consistently, that is. I’ve been practising gratitude for 128 days now, and it has certainly given me some benefits, which I will share further. So keep reading.
If you want to improve your mental health, practising gratitude is a great place to start. There are numerous ways to practise gratitude. It’s important to find what works best for you.
You know how when you are complaining to your friends, family, or anyone who will listen about the most insignificant things, and someone responds with "It could always be worse" (which is probably the last thing you want to hear while complaining)? We live in a society of complainers; we complain on social media, we complain to our coworkers, and we even complain to make friends.
I decided one day that I was done complaining (lol, yeah, right), at least for a week. Every day, I woke up and wrote down something I was grateful for. It may sound silly, and you might be rolling your eyes as you read this, but I had a pretty great week.
Every morning, I was forced to focus on something positive, and I discovered that I could be grateful for various strange and specific things.
It was like a mental reboot. I was no longer focusing on the negative, but instead getting a little boost of energy whenever I remembered something I was grateful for.
Here’s what I noticed improving:
It improved my mood.
Since gratitude is scientifically known to help boost our mood and make us feel happier and more positive. A leading gratitude researcher, Robert Emmons, has conducted numerous studies on the relationship between gratitude and well-being. His research shows that gratitude increases happiness and decreases depression. Gratitude helps us focus on the positive aspects of our lives rather than the negative ones. When we focus on the positive, our bodies produce more feel-good hormones like dopamine and serotonin. And this can improve our mood.
I noticed an increase in my self-esteem.
When we practise gratitude, we acknowledge the good things that we have in our lives. This can help improve our self-esteem and make us feel more confident. Why? Because when we focus on the good things in our lives, it helps us see ourselves in a more positive light. And that’s how it leads to an increase in our self-esteem.
I saw a reduction in stress and anxiety.
I wasn’t stressing over the small stuff anymore. Heck, I wasn’t stressing about anything. My anxiety wasn’t as bad, either. I won’t say it was gone, but it wasn’t wreaking havoc. When we focus on the good things in our lives, it helps to take our minds off of our problems and worries. This is again because of that whole shift from the negative to the positive focus. When we focus on the positive, it helps reduce the stress hormones in our body, such as cortisol. Which then leads to a reduction in stress and anxiety levels.
You might not know what the list is if you are new to it. But the simplest place to start is: I am grateful to be alive.
Other examples include,
"I am grateful for the air I breathe."
“I am thankful for a roof over my head.”
“I am grateful for the food that I eat.”
“I am grateful for my health.”
And so on. If you start from those first you will soon find yourself listing other things.
The way I’ve been recording my progress is by using an app called Presently. It is similar to a gratitude journal, except I only use it to list the things I am grateful for. I started with three and worked my way up from there. Some days, I only write three things. Other times, it’s more.
So, like presently, it might be helpful to begin by keeping a gratitude journal. Then write down three things you are grateful for each day. You can also express gratitude towards others by thanking them in person, doing something nice for them, or by leaving thank you notes.
No matter how you choose to practise gratitude, just know that it will have a positive impact on your mind and your overall well-being. It’s something I’m quite grateful for starting. See what I did there? :)
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