Having an attitude of gratitude is just an overall healthy, joyful, and good decision (Lancaster, 2020). Webster defines gratitude as “being grateful, thankful, a readiness to show appreciation and a disposition to return kindness” (Lancaster, 2020). Gratitude is usually seen as an emotion that is experienced at the moment. However, gratitude can also be seen as a trait where an individual may have a disposition of being “grateful.” In that context, gratitude is viewed as a way of life or a personality trait (Lambert et al., 2009).
Being grateful has been correlated with higher optimism, life satisfaction, prosocial behavior, social support, and lower negative affect, and gratitude as a trait is found to predict psychological well-being and life satisfaction (Wood, Joseph, & Maltby, 2008, 2009).
According to Adams, if we allow ourselves, we will find many reasons to be grateful. We will become more aware of enjoying the small joys in life, the ability to see, hear, smell, feel, learn, and the potential to forgive, to name a few. He believes that gratitude reveals itself in many forms- positive mood, increased resiliency, better physical health, less fatigue, and more restorative sleep. Gratitude leads to patience, humbleness, self-control, joy, better relationships, and kindness (Adams, 2019).
One of the best ways to show gratitude daily is through journaling. Gratitude journals refer to a habit of regularly reflecting on things that a person is grateful for. Maintaining a gratitude journal is not difficult and is one of the best habits to keep.
Regular journaling is proven to improve well-being. Making a note of all the things that one is grateful for can be a whole new experience. One of the benefits of journaling is that it helps clarify thoughts and feelings. Taking a few minutes to write down your thoughts and emotions will get you in contact with your inner world. Journaling enables you to know yourself better. By writing a journal, you will get to know your strong points and things that make you feel happy and confident. You will understand what makes you grow and who brings out your best. You will also know who is toxic to you, making you aware of your emotional well-being. (Purcell, M. 2006)
Other benefits of journaling are that it helps reduce stress, solve problems more effectively, and helps resolve disagreements with others. When journaling, you tend to jot down things that might be troubling you, and in the process, rather than stewing over them, it will give you a new perspective, and you might just come up with a sensible resolution (Purcell, M. 2006).
Journaling is most effective when done for about 20 minutes daily. It would be best if you did not overthink perfecting the work – begin anywhere, and forget spelling and punctuation. The most important rule of all is that there are no rules. Therefore make sure to write everything on your mind. Through writing, you will discover that your journal is a non-judgemental and all-accepting zone. (Purcell, M. 2006)
References
Gabana, N. T., Steinfeldt, J., Wong, Y. J., Chung, Y. B., & Svetina, D. (2018). Attitude of Gratitude: Exploring the Implementation of a Gratitude Intervention with College Athletes. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 31(3), 273–284. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2018.1498956
Wood, A. M., Joseph, S., & Maltby, J. (2008). Gratitude uniquely predicts satisfaction with life: Incremental validity above the domains and facets of the five factor model. Personality and Individual Differences, 45(1), 49–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2008.02.019
Purcell, M. (2019). The Health Benefits of Journaling. https://www.communityofmindfulparenting.com/curriculum/week7/S7-Articles-TheHealthBenefitsofJournaling.pdf
