February Gratitude Journal

February has been all about practising gratitude. I learned a long time ago and being positive and thankful for the things in your life can be a game changer when it comes to mental health. It’s not some magical cure for depression and anxiety, but it does help when it comes to getting through bad days. And it makes your good days so much better as well! I’m actively working on my mental health this year, so I thought it’d be interesting to see what effect practicing gratitude had on my day to day life. Here’s what I learned!

Gratitude: “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.”

Oxford English Dictionary

Benefits of Gratitude

Gratitude doesn’t just mean saying “Thank you”. Google “Gratitude” and most of the websites and articles will tell you that practicing gratitude is good for your health; it makes you happier, more positive, helps you sleep, create deeper relationships… the list goes on. I haven’t done enough research to subjectively tell you about it, but I do have a personal story to share. Practicing gratitude genuinely makes me a happier person. I like sitting down at night just before I go to bed and think of the positive things that happened to me that day. Sometimes, it also helps me turn negativity into something good. For example: if I had a good (bad?) cry during the day, I can say “Hey, that cry really helped me let go of that bad thing”. And I’d be grateful for the fact that I felt so much better after crying.

My Daily Gratitude Journal

My plan for February was to sit down every night and write down some things I was grateful for that day. I used a postcard as a little journal! Unfortunately, I made it about 10 days before I quit for some reason. I guess I just forgot one night, planned to catch up but never did. 10 days isn’t enough to create a habit! Which is fine, at least I tried! I guess I also wrote down very similar things, like ‘having a good day at work’ or ‘eating good food’. Which are definitely good things to be grateful for! But it gets a little boring after five days, right? Anyway, here are some things from my gratitude journal;

• My last therapy session (after a year of therapy!)
• Having coffee and a good chat with my grandma (who I don’t see often because of covid.)
• Home made pea soup for dinner.
• Going back to work after my two-week break.
• Wearing a cute outfit.

• 

• 

• 

In Hindsight

It’s kind of funny how even writing this blog post helps me practice gratitude. I might not have written in my journal every day of the month, but I’ve definitely thought about things I’m grateful for. Like the weather! We’ve had the coldest snowy days, and almost 20 degree Celsius weather only a week after! Which is slightly terrifying, but amazing! I also got a promotion at my job, for which I’m incredibly thankful! I’m thankful I had the endurance to stick to daily Pilates. And I’m grateful for finally listening to Taylor Swift’s Folklore and Evermore, as they’ve pretty much become my soundtrack for February. I could go on for a while! By practicing daily gratitude at the start of this month, I made it easier for myself to focus on the positive things in my life. What even are bad days? I don’t even remember them!

Continuing in March

I cannot wait for March, simply because I get another chance at practicing gratitude daily for a full month. Or maybe only half the month, who knows? Small progress is still progress! I’m going into the new month with a much more positive outlook. Not that I ever think a new month brings negativity, but I’m a lot more excited about it than usual. I told you gratitude comes with great health benefits! Also, I might be cheating a bit, hehe… I’m going to be learning how to roller skate! The weather’s going to be better! I’m going to continue doing Blogilates! So many exclamation marks! I have a lot of good things to look forward to, and I’m already quite grateful for them.

Do you practice gratitude? How do you do it? What are you grateful for this month?