In the midst of preparing for Thanksgiving, would you take a few minutes to think about how being grateful can be the best thing you can do for yourself?
Towards the end of November feeling the pressure of the year end approaching – did you know that this is one of the periods when a lot of people get depressed? Organizing Thanksgiving and Christmas, stressing about gift buying and giving can make feel under pressure. If you feel less than positive nowadays, we have an easy practice that might light up your days!
Keep a gratitude journal! This is an excellent way to turn your focus to the positive in your life!
Do you notice that your thinking pattern do not serve you sometimes? Once you ponder something negative, sad or unfortunate in your life, it is difficult to get back to appreciation. In fact the more time you spent thinking about the things that are not making you happy, the more difficult it will get to find something to be thankful about.
To break this pattern of sinking into negatives, try and focus on things you feel fortunate about. It can be just a warm meal, the sunshine on your skin or being able to invest into self- care and enjoy a yoga class.
Tips:
Your journal: it really doesn’t matter if you have a fancy journal or a plain notebook – the important thing is what goes in your journal! You can upgrade the plainest notebook if you take some time and personalize it. You can draw, create a collage, or add your favorite pics…. to reflect your personality and feelings.
Did you know that you can even keep your gratitude journal online? Quite a few sites will let you create your private pages for your journaling. Here are a few resources you might want to check out if you would like to go the virtual way:
Time to journal: evenings seem to be the best time for your journaling: we naturally look back on our day in the evenings. The easiest is to add this joyful practice to your evening routine so you never forget about it.
What if you don’t seem to find the time on weekdays or are too tired even for journaling? Don’t let this become just another stressful to-do on your list. If you didn’t have the time to write your gratitude journal during the week, just take 10-15 minutes on the weekend. Sunday evening is another great time to ponder our good fortune!
List or essay? You can opt to write a quick list of things you are grateful for – strive for at least 5 things if possible. You can also write a paragraph or two about the items on your list. Even a short essay if you feel like it. It is your journal so create it the way you feel like it!
Be beautiful, blessed and non-stressed this holiday season!