Writing gratitude lists can be a great habit to start. It’s a wonderful self care exercise that can help improve your wellbeing and mental health.
Noticing what we’re grateful for each day allows the feeling of gratitude to lead us in a more positive direction. By making just a short gratitude list, we are able to appreciate life so much more.
What is a gratitude list?
A gratitude list is where you write down everything you’re thankful for. Sit down and reflect on the positive moments that you’re grateful for.
There are many different ways to keep a gratitude list including in a notebook, on the notes app on your phone, and you can even tweet a list daily. Personally, I like to share my gratitude lists as it can help others to feel grateful for their lives too.
Gratitude lists can be done as often or as little as you like. You can incorporate them into any other part of your daily routine, or just write one as and when you get the time.
Some prefer to keep a gratitude journal where you can expand on the things you’re thankful for. This can be a great way to into depth about what you have noted on your list. Gratitude journals often come with prompts that can help you think about what to write. The prompts can be used in your gratitude lists too, but I’ll talk more about that later on in this post.
What are the benefits of writing a gratitude list?
Gratitude is strongly linked to happiness. And who doesn’t want to be happy?! Practising gratitude can help you feel more positive emotions, appreciate the little moment in your life, improve your mental health and improve the relationships we have with the people in our lives.
As well as improving our wellbeing, gratitude lists can serve as time for us to put ourselves first. By taking a few minutes out of your day to write a small gratitude list, you’ve prioritised yourself and your wellbeing.
How to get started?
This is the absolute best part; you can get started with pretty much nothing.
Depending on how you wish to keep your gratitude list, there are a few ways you can get started:
- On your phone – All you need is a phone and a notes app.
- Pen and paper – You can use a notebook or scrap paper.
- Social media – Tweet out your list or share it over on Instagram.
You can use this as an excuse to start a new notebook or keep it casual. Make it work for you.
Not sure what to write. Try some prompts.
I previously mentioned that gratitude journals often come with prompts. Since keeping a gratitude list is something that you can do casually, it can be hard to come up with things off the top of your head.
Here are some prompts to get you started:
- People you’re grateful to know
- Something you like about yourself
- A skill you have
- Memories that make you smile
- Something you own that brings you joy
- Yummy food and drink
You can write down anything that makes you feel thankful. It doesn’t have to make sense to other people as long as it does to you.
Is writing a gratitude list something you’d be interested in? Do you practise gratitude?
Positively Eleanor 