Sarah from Holisticallyxliving has nailed this blog on the head, explaining why you should be using a gratitude journal. Thank you so much, Sarah, for this excellent piece.

Why You Should Practice Daily Gratitude
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In the society we live in today its very easy to fall into a state of lack and wanting, searching for the things that we are told we need and constantly consuming, and still feeling as though we don’t have what it is we need. Most people are never grateful for what they have already; it is taken for granted and not much thought goes towards. We seem to always be focused on the negatives and it is so easy to do this; it is hard to be grateful in today's world – although we have SO MUCH to be grateful for.

• having gratitude for the things you already have in your life allows more goodness to flow in, for you to receive more things you can be grateful for – in terms of the law of attraction, in order for us to be at the vibrational level to receive what it is we want, we MUST be grateful for all the we have.
• being grateful everyday and integrating into part of your morning routine helps to shift your focus  to stay more positive throughout the day – whatever we are focussed on and thinking about, ,is what we will attract
• not only does this shift help you to feel more positive throughout your day but it also reminds us to NOT always be in a state of wanting more – writing down all the things we already have, even if its as simple as being able to breathe in fresh air every day, will help us to move away from the consumerism mindset of always chasing the newest ‘thing’
• This positivity most of us want to achieve is not always easy, which is why being grateful is such a good practice to have. Its SO easy for us to write down just 5 things we are grateful for every morning – or even just think about them, however not many of us choose to do so. By you doing this small act you are practising to use your mind in a positive way, therefore throughout your days and weeks, you should be able to do this more easily. Because it is ‘hard’ to stay positive, and incredibly easy to fall back into a pessimistic and even nihilist mindset when things don’t go your way. But by doing this small act on a daily basis you will begin to train your mind to think first towards the positives instead of going straight to the negative aspects of a situation; this will more than likely help you to deal with and overcome whatever problem you may be facing much easier and quicker than if you were to dwell on the negativity and question why this happened to you – I like to think of every situation and experience as a lesson, if you feel as though nothing positive has come from this, at least think of it as a learning experience, so that you may not have to face that type of situation again – and be grateful for the lesson you were taught !

Things you can be grateful for – a basic list that we can all begin with

• if you are reading this you more than likely have a roof over your head and a bed to sleep in
• you also have access to wifi as well as a device to read this on
• you are alive and breathing
• you have basic human rights
• you have food on the table and fresh water to drink
• you have a shower with warm water and soap
• you have electricity
• you have access to education – and the power to choose what it is you study and do for a living
• you also have access to music, and literature and art
• you are able to express yourself in whatever way you want
• the ocean
• coffee
• the trees
• all of nature that you can experience and surround yourself with

If you’re new to the practice of gratitude I would highly recommend checking out the I am Happy I am Here gratitude journal! The founder of these journals, Larissa, kindly gifted me one recently and I have been loving it! The journals are designed to prompt you to think about the things you already have and that you are grateful for. If you need help thinking each day what it is that you can be thankful for, or if you just want a special place to keep all your grateful thoughts together so that you can look back and reflect on them, you should get this journal! It comes in black or pink and will fit in beautifully with any home office or stationary.