Seeing me deal with depression and anxiety for a considerable time, my best friend suggested that I try documenting my thoughts, happy or otherwise, in a gratitude journal. He even presented me with a little diary to ensure that I don’t waste time and get started.
I decided to start my year with this new change in my routine and here’s how it turned out for me.
I started on 31 December by sending heartfelt gratitude letters to all the people who’ve stood by my side throughout the ups and downs of the previous year. It not only made me value them more but also made me realise that I don’t appreciate these people enough.
Starting and maintaining my gratitude journal was one of my new year’s resolutions and I was adamant that I stick to it. Constant reminders from friends and support from my parents made them make their way to the first page of my journal.
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A gratitude journal, as the name suggests, is writing about all the things a person is truly grateful for. It could be something as simple as a piping hot cup of tea or something major like an emotional breakthrough. I started with the basics and simply chose to write–‘being alive’ and ‘have a loving parents and partner’.
Since waking up and making it to work on time are already “mission impossibles” for me, I started journaling at night, hoping this would become a habit.
If on some days I had nothing, I expressed gratitude for the gift of live, for a clear nose despite my friend having a bad cold, or something as mundane as not getting a work email after 7 pm from my cranky boss. Some days, it’s just about the little things.
Over the course of just a few days, I realized I had started appreciating life more.
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I tried writing whenever I experienced a happy moment, which also made me excited and eager to document my feelings. Wow, I was turning into Pavlov’s dog.
I felt peaceful being able to write all my thoughts; thoughts that would aimlessly float in my mind seemed to settle down when I put them down on paper.
Whenever in stress, I would go back to my journal and feel a sense of calm as I relived my happy moments. Reading about the non-sucky parts of my life briefly took me away from reality, and also helped me regain focus on the fact that life isn’t always so bad. My journal reminded me of the happiness that exists in my life and that the current situation making me feel blue will soon pass.
Writing in my journal didn’t feel like a chore after a point because it gradually became a peaceful time for me to just sit and write about all the things that I was grateful for.
So now, I make myself a nice cup of coffee or tea, depending on my mood, and sit down at around 11 pm to scribble down my thoughts. I also ensure that I don’t scroll through my phone after this is done, instead choosing to watch a nice show or video on my laptop.
So, do you think you’ll try journaling too? Let me know in the comments below.
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