For many, journaling may sound like a laborious task reminiscent of your grade school days when you were forced to write about a prompt that did not resonate with you. Research shows however, that free writing can reduce stress, improve your overall mood, and enhance your well-being. There truly is power in the pen!
When free writing about your feelings or expressing gratitude for the little things in your life focus your attention on the practice of writing whatever comes to mind. Don’t worry about grammar and spelling or being too rigid with your thoughts.
By this point in the post if you still find yourself doubting the benefits of journaling, let me leave you with a few more benefits to consider. Writing by hand heightens memory, improves cognitive skills, and stimulates brain function.
If your mind and heart are open to the idea of gratitude journaling, Filling the Jars: Decluttering + Intentional Living for the Overwhelmed Thinker offer some ideal prompts for free writing. I’ve included the prompts below along with link to the page in today’s references.
1. Name something beautiful that you saw today.
2. What memory are you grateful for?
3. What opportunities are you grateful for?
4. Name something in your home that you truly treasure. Why?
5. What are you grateful for in your significant other?
6. What about your body are you grateful for?
7. What about the current season are you grateful for?
8. Name a struggle you currently have. What about that struggle makes you grateful?
9. What freedoms are you grateful for?
10. What talents or abilities are you grateful for?
11. What book are you grateful for?
12. Describe a piece of positive news you recently heard.
13. What is the biggest gift in your life right now?
14. What are you thankful for in nature?
15. What food are you thankful for?
16. What bit of information are you glad you know?
17. Name a basic need that has been met.
18. What positive changes in your personality have happened in the last year?
19. How do you show gratitude for your friends?
20. What small thing are you grateful happened today?
21. What difficult parts of your life contain hidden blessings?
22. What is something a friend or family member did today that made you grateful for them?
Make time to celebrate and appreciate the benefits of writing today!
References:
Author unknown. (2019). With love. Breathe Gratitude, 90-93.
Hage, J. (2019, January 10). 22 Fantastic gratitude prompts you need today. Filling the Jars. Retrieved from https://www.fillingthejars.com/22-fantastic-gratitude-journal-prompts-you-need-today/