As we contemplate a Thanksgiving feast featuring turkey along with all of the trimmings and a slice of pumpkin pie, let our minds gravitate toward the reason behind the holiday — giving thanks. Gratitude abounds in November and today the StoneGate Apartment Homes Blog has some ideas about how to express gratitude this month and all year long, via gratitude journals.
Buy or make a gratitude journal for yourself (and your Thanksgiving day dinner guests too!). Yelp provides The Best 10 Cards & Stationery Shops in the Williamsville, NY area if you like a physical journal. Whatever type of journal you use, take a few minutes every day to make a note of three things that you are grateful for in your life. They can be big or small. The point is to seek out and write down what you’re grateful for. When life starts getting you down, you can go back and read what you’ve written for a lift. If you’ve got kids, help them create their own gratitude journals.
There are several types of journals that can serve this purpose; from a simple notebook to a leatherbound heirloom style journal, or even an online chronicle, there are options:
We love these gratitude journal choices provided by Etsy — combine the convenience of buying something already made with the charm of creative individuality, with tons of designs to fit your personality.
Creating your own, personalized gratitude journal is a great way to get invested in the habit of expressing gratitude regularly. The Positive Psychology Program shares a list of templates to help you out with the project: 67 Templates, Ideas, and Apps for Your Diary.
Help your kids or grandkids jump on the gratitude bandwagon too. The Happy Housewife has some easy-to-follow directions to create your own journal: Gratitude Journals for Kids.
Gratitude 365 is an app which provides a “beautiful and easy way” to write your gratitude journal. It includes a daily entry and the option to add a daily photo, plus the ability to share your entries on social media should you wish to do so. It’s available for both Apple and Android.
Now that you have a journal, what do you fill it with? It can be as simple as listing three things every day that you are grateful for, or it can be filled with your hopes, dreams, and detailed descriptions about the blessings you have in your life. The best part about a gratitude journal is that you can decide what to include. If you are more comfortable working from a writing prompt, we like these 52 Gratitude Prompts for Journals or Conversations from Bounceback Parenting.
What avenues do you use to express gratitude? Let us know in the comments! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in our apartment community here in Williamsville, NY.