Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Gratitude Journal Reviewed

Embrace An Attitude of Gratitude

prayer of gratitude
Praying Hands image courtesy of pixabay.com
Twenty-five years ago my soul was suffering from the lack of gratitude. My doctor said that I was depressed. He said that there was a chemical imbalance which suppressed my ability to feel happiness. Technically, I suppose that his diagnosis was correct. In the months following that visit to the doctor, I came to realize that it went much deeper than a "happiness hormone" not being produced in my body.

My physician followed the proper procedure from the annuls of medicine by prescribing an anti-depressant. He explained that the medication would help my body to remember how to produce the chemical that would take away the depression and help me to feel happy again. Oh, how I despised that medication! I remember thinking that it seemed impossible that it would work because while I was on it I didn't "feel" anything. While medicated the feelings of despair were gone; I'll admit that. The trouble was there didn't seem to be any feelings at all; none. I didn't want to live a life devoid of feeling!

I began a time of inner reflection to see if I could figure out why the blue bird of happiness had abandoned his nest in my heart. I knew for certain that he used to live there. So, why had he left? I eventually realized that I had been neglecting to feed him his favorite food. He hadn't received not even a little morsel of gratitude in a very long time. 

I tell you this today because I recently received a message from a dear friend who has passed on to a better place. She wanted me to know how much that I meant to her before and during her long illness. Her message explained that my example of finding gratefulness all around me had taught her so very much and made those last months easier to bare. 

After receiving that touching and loving message from my sweet dear friend, I remembered  how it is so very easy for any of us to forget to be thankful for the big and small blessings that surround us every single day. We don't have to let it be that easy. We can make a habit of looking for more gratitude in our lives.

I found a wonderful tool to help anyone begin to focus on what they have to be thankful for on a daily basis. This journal is a 52 week guide to help you cultivate a garden of gratitude in your heart. There are inspirational quotes along with an area to jot down three things you are thankful for each day. It can be something big like a warm home or it can be something simple like the laugh of a child. If you or someone you know needs some help in this direction, a gratitude journal might be just the tool to plant your seeds.


Good Days Start With Gratitude Journal



Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


5 comments:

  1. I've known for some time about the positive affects of expressing gratitude and for doing so daily, Beverly. Your article is a wonderful reminder of how even small expressions of gratitude make a world of difference not only to ones own attitude, but in the lives of those around us. A gratitude journal is an excellent way to remember how much expressing gratitude daily helps. And one can go back and re-read earlier gratitude notes on those days we all have sometimes when you feel especially 'low'. My grandmother's New England expression for those 'down days' was 'feeling dark as the inside of a pocket'. Well, with expressions like that, it's hard to stay 'down'. :)

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  2. Cultivate a garden of gratitude in your heart! I really, really love that idea and the way you expressed it with that phrase. I need to cross stitch that on a sampler soon. It is so easy to focus on the negatives and the things that annoy us each day, but soooooooo much better for us to focus on our blessings. A journal and the actual process of writing down the things you are grateful for, is an excellent suggestion for us all.

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  3. So glad that you found your way back to wholeness. It's a terrible thing when we loose our "little blue bird of Happiness!" I'm also glad you found a way without the use of drugs to get you out of your darkness. Gratitude is so easy to forget. But everyday it should be the first thing we think of and at night it should be the last thing on our minds. What a lovely suggestion to help those who are in the same "negative" space you were in for a while. Blessings are wonderful to remember and feel grateful for! Thanks!

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  4. I, too, have discovered how gratitude can change my attitude. Even in the darkest times, I have been able to find something I can thank God for. I think there's a reason the Bible tells us to offer God a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Sometimes it may seem like a sacrifice to let go of despair and look for that ray of brightness we can be thankful for. But it's so much healthier than nursing bitterness or despair -- attitudes that put us deeper in a hole. If we train ourselves to look for things we can be thankful for, our lives will be much brighter. I'm glad gratitude helped your spirit heal.

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  5. Gratitude is what gets me through as well. You've captured your happiness the right way. I find being comforted by all the little beautiful things is what brings peace inside. Sorry you've been through so much, you're handling it so well.

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