I recently received a leadership award from a group of peers. Needless to say, I’m pretty proud of that accomplishment!
The first thing I did when I got home was write about the award in my gratitude journal.
I’ve been using this great tool for a long time now and have also been witness to the transformation the attitude of gratitude has created in the lives of others around me.
At the end of every day, I write out at least 5 things I am grateful for during the day. Yes, some days this is harder than others … those days when work has seemed a challenge or something negative has unexpectedly come my way. Yet, even in that event, there is a learning, opportunity or understanding I can be grateful for, if I choose to look hard enough.
Some people tell me they think of the things they are grateful for just as they are drifting off to sleep. Well, that’s good, but not as tangible and memorable as writing them out in a journal you can review and reflect upon later.
I find that when reading past entries, I feel my sense of gratitude rise up and I am just as grateful now as I was then.
Action – You can create a gratitude journal just using simple lined paper. Or you can purchase a wide variety of journals or diaries. There are even actual gratitude journals available online and in book stores.
The wonderful thing about acknowledging gratitude is that the more grateful you are, the more you have to be grateful for.
(What’s one thing you are grateful for right now, this second? Please share by replying in the comments box.)