Want to know what you can be doing every single day to lead to greater happiness, help you deal with adversity and build strong relationships? Yes please!! Gratitude! It’s the quality of being thankful and having the readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.
A gratitude jar or journal is a place for capturing grateful moments and meaningful memories to help our hearts give thanks and remind us to always live a life with meaning.
Whenever you are grateful for something, whether it’s an activity, a kind act, a person or simply some detail of your everyday life, you write it down on a slip of paper and stick it in the jar. It can be helpful to write specifically what you are thankful for and why. If you have seen a blessing arise out of a difficult time, acknowledge those details in writing. We are called to give thanks in all circumstances. Gratitude is a powerful emotion that instantly washes away stress and tension. We are often too quick to forget the day-to-day moments; there is a power in writing something down that helps us hold on to the experience.
Once you’ve filled your jar with thankful thoughts, there are different ways for you to appreciate all of those captured blessings:
- Make your birthday extra special by remembering the people and events that have made your year one to celebrate.
- Save it for Thanksgiving and read them as a family, giving thanks along the way as you share one another’s blessings.
- Savor the memories on New Year’s Eve and use them to make your resolutions in the coming year.
- Pick out the random acts of kindness that you have been thankful for and pay it forward. Be blessed to be a blessing to others.
- Read a few whenever you’re having a tough day or need a pick me up.
Being intentional about documenting your gratitude will do wonders for improving your attitude. And over time, you’ll accumulate a jar full of all the things that make your life beautiful.
June 22, 2020 Meaningful Moment
Tracey McLarney