(September 2025)
Gratitude journals
Have you ever kept a gratitude journal?
I haven’t.
Gratitude journals fall in the same category for me as seasonal home decorating or creative crafts to do with kids. They are things I wish I wanted to do. And so instead, I marvel at other people who actually do these things either because they’re more disciplined or more creative (or both). I actually have a Pinterest board entitled, “Crafty Project I’ll Never Do.” It made me feel better to pin them, and then when I discovered Etsy, my finger couldn’t “add to cart” fast enough.
Gratitude is something we all should practice. In this fast-paced, consumer-driven world, I often find I feel overwhelmed by the information coming at me disappointed by all the things society says I should own that I don’t.
One more pair of shoes. A seasonally-themed table runner. Jeans that are in style today and might remain there through the end of the week. A thinner body. Straighter hair. At the end of the day, who I am and what I own just isn’t enough.
And it will never be.
Which leaves me with three options:
- Join a nunnery where the world and its consumerism mentality is shunned (probably need to run this by my husband and kids first)
- Crawl back into bed and pull the covers over my head until the world spins out of control and reverts back two hundred years (could I really exist with only outdoor toilets?)
- Attempt a gratitude journal
I’ve never started a gratitude journal because it always felt overwhelming. Find something I appreciate and write about it…every day? What does it say about me as a person if I can’t find anything to write about on a particular day? What if I write about something as meaningless as a blade of grass just so I can check it off on my to-do list?
In doing a some (basic) research on gratitude journals, here’s a few helpful suggestions I found:
- Try sticking to one time of day and find one thing you are grateful for at that moment
- Feel free to write about anything, from the mundane to the magnificent
- Write in your journal in a different place every day, if possible. Let the place inspire your gratitude (yes, we can even be grateful in laundry rooms)
- Have a gratitude partner who keeps your accountable or inspires you
- Don’t over practice gratitude (hallelujah!). At some point the scale tips from strengthening this muscle to overworking it and burning it out. So if you miss a day, offer yourself grace. And maybe, after a month of daily entries, move to a weekly rhythm.
I’m up for the challenge…are you?
Today, I’m thankful for the opportunity and the challenge. (Day #1=✅ 😉)
Story Starter:
The Zoo Goes Boo
“C’mon, hurry up!”
“I’m working as fast as I can. I only have hooves, you know.”
There was a slight jingling noise as the lock gave way and the gate opened. The hippopotamus nose-bumped the zebra as a way of thanks.
“No stopping now. We’ve got more friends to release. This is going to be the BEST Halloween ever!”