When was the last time you took a few minutes to really reflect on what you are thankful for in your life? Maybe it was Thanksgiving (after all, it is right there in the name) or another holiday when you were gathered with loved ones in celebration. Maybe it was the last time you navigated your way out of a tricky situation that could have had a bad result—but ultimately didn’t. Or maybe it last happened when you received an unexpected kindness from someone.
Those sorts of occasions and situations naturally lead to feelings of gratitude, and those warm feelings of appreciation for the good things in our lives can give our spirits a real boost.
But on a day-to-day basis, most of us do not take the time to reflect on the good things in our lives. We tend to get swept up in our busy schedules and to let stress mount as we try to meet all of our obligations. Often, we feel far more frustrated or exhausted than grateful. That’s certainly understandable. But it can also be hard on our mental health.
Cultivating a daily practice of gratitude, however, can have a positive impact on our mental health. And, thankfully, it is pretty easy to get started.
Experiencing Gratitude Includes Taking Action
Think about the expressions we use to describe calling to mind the things for which we are grateful. We might tell someone to “count your blessings.” Or we might suggest that it would be a good idea to “stop and smell the roses.”
Both of those expressions call for action, right? It is not enough to wait passively for feelings of gratitude to wash over us. Instead, we need to be intentional about identifying the good things in our lives.
One tangible—and easy—way to count your blessings or smell the roses is to keep a gratitude journal.
The most common approach to this kind of journal is to take a few minutes each day to write down three things for which you are thankful. They can be big (“I got a promotion at work!”) or small (“I really enjoyed the sandwich I had for lunch”) or somewhere in between (“I was worried about a conversation with a coworker, but it went really smoothly”). Some days you may find you have three new things you want to record. Other days you might find yourself noting something you have included before. And some days you may find yourself including new and repeated things for which you are grateful.
All of that is absolutely fine. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to recording your feelings of gratitude. The practice of jotting down three things each day is the heart of the practice.
And you can choose how to approach that practice. Maybe you just get a plain notebook or a set of notecards to serve as your journal. Maybe you keep a document on your computer or tablet. Maybe you invest in one of the many physical gratitude journal options. Maybe you would like to use one of the array of dedicated gratitude apps that allow you to include photos and the like.
Again, how you keep a gratitude journal is up to you. It is the regular practice of noting things for which you are grateful that is beneficial to your mental health.
We should note that a gratitude journal is just one of many journaling options that can support your mental health.
You Can Use Your Gratitude as Inspiration
As you start to build an ongoing list of things you are grateful for, you may find yourself inspired to try to be of service to others. After all, your gratitude journal will likely include kindnesses others have done for you. When you take the time to realize how important those kindnesses have been to you, you may well discover that you have opportunities to offer similar kindnesses to others.
Cultivating a spirit of service to others pays double dividends. You bring kindness to someone else while also supporting your own mental well-being. Whether that takes the form of being intentionally thoughtful and kind to those around you every day or you find yourself inspired to volunteer to help others in your community (or both), you will be doing good in the world. And that is good for you, too.
We Are Grateful for the Opportunity to Help
At Johnstown Heights Behavioral Health, we are committed to helping each person we serve improve their mental health and maintain those improvements over time. Located in Johnstown, Colorado, we are always prepared to help you navigate an acute mental, behavioral, or psychiatric issue that is disrupting your daily life.
We are proud to provide a safe place for you to establish a new beginning under the care of a staff dedicated to evidence-based practices supported by our expertise, experience, and empathy. When you are ready to make a change, we would be thankful for the opportunity to be of service to you.
