My dark thoughts sometimes lurk most threateningly when I first get up – this is why I try to get up early and ‘protect myself’ in positivity and meditation and prayer. One of the strategies I use often is gratitude. I find making a list of all of my blessings is a perfect way to start the day and it helps me to remember all I have been blessed with instead of focusing on my worries and letting the dark stuff in.
Sometimes I take the time to write a detailed list of all I have to be grateful for, Sometimes if I am pushed for time I make a list of twenty or even ten things, just using names of the people I love or key words and thinking about why I am grateful for them, feeling that gratitude right there in my tummy.
Maybe it could work for you? 💛
I keep a gratitude journal and I love looking back in time over the past two years or so and reading what I have been grateful for in the different seasons. In winter, I am grateful for my comfy blankets, my fluffy slippers and hot baths with scented bubbles in. In summer, I am grateful for ice cream, sun screen, iced water and shade. I am always grateful for my husband, my family, my friends, my health, my home and coffee…
When I first heard about gratitude journals and gratitude practice, I wondered whether it could work for me…but it did. I committed to focussing on the positives and being more grateful for just a month and I have kept up the practice ever since because of the light it brings into the start of each and every one of my days.
Breadthoflife 