You may have heard about gratitude journaling and wondered how it all works. What the benefits are, why so many people are talking about it and why you should try it.

Gratitude journaling is something I’ve been doing for over ten years now. I lost my father to depression when I was a teenager and I started focusing on it during the grieving process. It is something that helped, and it has just stuck with me ever since. I can feel the difference when I do it and when I don’t.

Now before I go on, I take mental health very seriously. I don’t want you to think that gratitude journaling is a cure for mental illness. If you are suffering from anxiety or depression, please speak to a professional and get the help that is available. You deserve to be happy.

Now let’s get stuck into it.

•  Gratitude journaling can allow you to take a step back from technology, from your mind, from the busy lives we live and live in the moment. (it sounds a bit cliché) but how often do we do it?  I feel like myself personally, I am always thinking about the future, or the  past. I find it difficult to live in the present moment. Gratitude journaling can help with this. 

• Gratitude journaling allows you to focus on positive thoughts and sit in the feeling of gratitude. If you have felt gratitude before, it gives you a feel of happiness, content, and calm. It is a really nice feeling to have.

• When we write in our gratitude journals, we think about everything big and small. I have created a 14 Day Gratitude challenge booklet and everyone gets a copy with their gratitude journal when ordering from me. I don’t mean to toot my own horn but it is such an amazing resource especially if you are just starting to journal. In the booklet I give you 14+ topics to get you thinking outside the box with in-depth explanations and examples. Gratitude journaling is all about feeling gratitude for what we have now and appreciating it. It’s about shifting our focus to those positive thoughts and feeling happiness rather than thinking about what is missing, or lacking.  

• Gratitude journaling can reduce anxiety (again I am not saying it is a cure) in my personal experience I find it does reduce my anxiety and stress. I tend to have a very busy mind and worry a lot and it has helped me with that.

• It can improve sleep and I think it ties in with the point above about reducing stress. 

• Gratitude journaling can improve self-confidence, self-esteem and self-love. When we focus on what we love about ourselves that is when the magic happens. I always think, if it was my last day on earth, the last thing I would be thinking about is my weight or the way I look. I would be thinking about my loved ones, having fun, and making memories and all the times I felt happy and laughed until my belly hurt.

• Gratitude journaling can reduce negative thought patterns. When I write in my journal of a morning, I am in a good mood. I feel positive and happy. If something happens during the day that would usually make me angry or upset me. I do find that I tend to react differently. I don’t sweat the small stuff and I tend to brush things off a bit more.

•  For all of my law of attraction lovers, you will know how important gratitude is, in attracting your goals. The feelings of peace, joy and love are some of the highest frequencies and the easiest way to get those feeling is by feeling gratitude and the easiest way to feel gratitude is by writing out everything you are grateful for. When our vibrations are high and we are feeling those amazing feelings, we are attracting situations and experiences that match those feelings. This is another reason why gratitude journaling is so important to me.

( For those who want to learn more about the law of attraction, here is a blog post on it. https://www.iamhappyiamhere.com/blogs/news/law-of-attraction ) 

Now don’t get me wrong. I still have days of feeling down, feeling upset, feeling angry or just feeling unmotivated and blah. We are all only human and its normal to experience emotions. If you did want to try a gratitude journal and see how it makes you feel. You can grab a blank notebook and try it! I encourage you to give it a go.  

The gratitude journals we sell and have created (https://www.iamhappyiamhere.com/collections/new-gratitude-journals) have been made to take the hard work out of it. We have questions throughout the book that you simply have to answer. The journals are beautiful and are amazing quality with thick pages. The 14 day gratitude booklet that comes with each journal is an amazing educational resource.  

Now before I go, I have to tell you a story; when I was younger my girlfriends and I went on a trip away to the Hunter Valley. I found this notebook there, it had the nicest cover and beautiful thick pages inside. It was about $50 and I brought it. Friends of mine couldn’t believe I brought a blank notebook for that much but to me it was so special. It was something that I know would help me and that I wanted to keep to look back on. It was also something I felt would pay off, it would help me achieve my goals by helping my mindset. I remember not caring what anyone else thought and feeling super happy with it.

I hope that someone out there, feels that way about the journals I have created.

Thank you for reading this blog and I really wish you nothing but the absolute best for the future. You are amazing, worthy and so loved. Don’t forget it.

Come and connect with me on @iamhappyiamhere Instagram x

Larissa