Start a gratitude journal

“That night I sat with my journal, intending to begin with three things I was grateful for that day. Just three. Piece of cake, right? After an hour, I gently closed the cover on the tear-stained, still blank first page and cried myself to sleep, mentally adding “failure at journaling” to all my other perceived shortcomings. A couple of days later I decided to try again. Determinedly opening up the book, I quickly wrote my children, my home, and food to eat. Feeling a smug sense of satisfaction, I replaced the pen lid. I was done, right? Objective achieved. The next day I opened the book and froze. What could I write? The three things from the day before were all I could think of. I couldn’t repeat them, and yet nothing else came to mind.”

“I laid the incredibly crumpled but virtually blank book down again and rested my head against the window as I watched a robin tentatively sitting on the garden fence, anxiously watching all directions while trying to keep an eye on the birdseed my son had put on the feeding station before school. For half an hour, this beautiful bird made several trips, came back with friends, and triumphantly cleared all that we had offered. It dawned on me that while I had been watching, I hadn’t felt sorry for myself once. I had been mindful and in awe of nature and how beautiful it can be. Excitedly, I reached for my book again.”

“I recently found out that gratitude journals are supposedly great for ruminating/anxiety. So I started one.. and a few days later I went to a birthday party. Note I have pretty bad social anxiety, but sitting there watching the kid open presents all I felt was grateful to be a part of that moment. That never would have happened before! I’d be too focused on controlling my anxiety or wanting to leave. I’ve noticed a few other benefits too already, and it’s only been 1 1/2 weeks.”