Five Easy Ways To Facilitate Gratitude Journal Styles

Gratitude Journal Styles *

In my previous article, I have covered a lot of ground on Gratitude. Please click here to check it and please do subscribe to my emails for future articles and announcements. Practicing gratitude has really helped me see things differently and it has helped get a more positive outlook.

To me, it seems like the most obvious thing, but sometime back it was not. A lot of times good ideas just tickle our imaginations and senses. It is very seldom implemented. Either because we feel that it is impractical or we don't have a plan to guide us. In this app driven world where everything is an app. It can be difficult to do things without a plan or framework. Today I shall be sharing a beautiful concept related to gratitude called a Gratitude journal.

So let us first understand the idea before actually making one. I believe that recording our feelings and reactions while finding a grateful attitude to filter out our emotions can be quite helpful. Primarily on not so good days, it would help us understand the reasons to find some cheer. It would also remind us that our selective thinking focuses our attention only on pitiful memories when we are down or on brighter moments when we are upbeat. Which I think it doesn't seem like any kind of objectivity. So in life, I think adding a dash of hopefulness to seeing situations can be very useful. It helps us understand our situations and also guides us to strategize ahead. This is where gratefulness plays a key role.

So, Here are 5 ways to a Gratitude Journal:

'The Weekly Gratitude' Journal:

A Weekly Gratitude Journal is a weekly record of the events, moments and things that make you feel grateful. Choose just a small list of say five things that make you feel grateful. I believe this could very simple and normal things. The idea is developing an attitude of gratitude and not filling up a book. So reflect intently and fill the list.

'End of the Day Gratitude' Journal:

This is a daily record of encountering gratitude. So choose a quiet and peaceful time of the day. Calm your mind and reflect on the events during the day. Now record it on paper or if you are using a software or an app key it in. Keep the sentences short. So when you get back to your journal, its a like a summary of all the grateful moments during your day.

'Anytime Gratitude' Journal:

This style of journaling would involve recording your gratitude moments on the go. You feel it, you know it, you write it. It's quite simple. So one just needs to use some tact and to stop and think. Then after reflecting at the situation, person or challenge, we need to record it in the journal. But in this style, there is no real time or place. It's on the go.

'Monthly Gratitude' Journal:

This style of journaling should be done once a month. But to keep it meaningful and factual. It should be more of a ritual. A day of the month should be chosen to record the reasons to be grateful. This could be done in a quiet place or after some prayer or meditation. This helps you focus and engage with the process of journaling our gratitude moments.

'Hybrid Gratitude' Journal:

In this style, we pick and choose some of the above styles to our convenience. We can combine anytime journaling with Monthly journaling ( or formats of your choice). So the first one becomes like a daily tracker and the second one to record the highlights for the month. Creatively bespoke it to your convenience and good health.

Ending Thoughts

In short, I would say there is no one particular style I would recommend. 'Anytime Gratitude' Journaling is an approach that helped me.

I prefer writing paragraphs then just lists. It helps me recap the emotion and situation. I don't use any particular template. But there are many useful templates to use. Check this article by PositivePsychologyProgram, It covers some interesting templates and apps that can be used for creating a Gratitude journal.

Your views

In the comments section, please do mention what approach has helped you. In a future article, I shall cover some templates and technologies like apps and platforms that have personally helped me. God bless! See you in the next article...

Other Articles

Turn Pain to Joy: 11 Tips for a Powerful Gratitude Journal
https://tinybuddha.com/blog/turn-pain-to-joy-11-tips-for-a-powerful-gratitude-journal/

How To Start A Gratitude Journal You’ll Actually Keep
https://www.shutterfly.com/ideas/how-to-start-a-gratitude-journal/

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*https://www.maxpixel.net/Journal-Blank-Notebook-Writing-Paper-Book-Diary-3193808