Daily Gratitude
An introduction to gratitude journaling + a few prompts to get started
Logging gratitude was one of the first steps I took to start building a personal self-care practice. To get started I found it really useful to try and think about gratitude on the small and daily scale - reflecting on what I’m glad to have experienced each day and things I’m grateful I made time to do for myself or others.
I don’t believe in promoting manufactured positivity, so for me it’s not about trying to make out that everything’s great but it’s about making a little time in my daily routine to shift my perspective and to celebrate the small wins. It’s important to be gentle with oneself and take it slow. Of course some days there are only a few things you can think to be grateful for and on others there are many. Some days the only thing we can think of is that we felt the sun on our skin or that we had a really nice nap - and that’s okay.
Building a gratitude practice can also be a good opportunity to empower yourself and notice what you’re doing to support yourself. Whether it’s that you’re glad you made time to journal today, reached out to a friend or that you had a proactive morning by starting the day with a short walk - it’s important to recognise these things.
For me the process is about creating a language of kindness and utilising this as a tool to honour yourself and acknowledge what’s bringing joy into your day-to-day. To help me show up for myself consistently i like to set 5 or so minutes aside before bed to jot down my gratitude log - reflecting at any time is useful but if it feels a bit daunting at first, building a ritual which fits into a loose routine can help with supporting a daily practice.
Prompts for gratitude:
What made me smile today?
What felt good today?
What/who supported me today?
What did i learn today?
What did i like about myself today?
I hope these questions can help to be a good starting point to lead you into your own self-exploration and into new lines of enquiry that work for you. After all you know yourself best and can work out what feels useful or good to you.
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