​This quote is taken from the book My Stroke of Insight by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor.  The book is reviewed elsewhere on this site.

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For many people in the world, life is extremely tough and finding positives in their lives may be very difficult or even impossible.  However, for many of us there are aspects of our lives for which we can be grateful.  These may be major aspects like our careers, our families, our financial status, and major events in our lives – marriage, the birth of a child and so on.  But there are also many other aspects of our lives, or events in our lives, that may appear as minor but for which we should be grateful.

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In this context, you should consider keeping a Gratitude Diary.  There is much information available online in how to do this.  There are different formats that the diary can take.  They are all about keeping a list of things for which we are grateful but there are many different practices in how this can be done.  Some people write a list of things at a particular point in their day, for example early in the morning or late at night.  Some write a fixed number of things only.  Some will note things as they occur during their day.  Find a format that works for you.

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I have been keeping a Gratitude Diary for just over a year.  I buy a physical Yearly Diary with space for a weekly entry, and individual daily entries.  Each week I enter one major aspect of my life for which I am grateful, for example my family, my health, my financial stability and so on.  Also, each night I consider my day, and I note one aspect of my day for which I am grateful.  This can be something major but, in most cases, is something relatively minor, for example having a nice meal, hearing birdsong on a walk, the weather, playing with one of my grandchildren, having a coffee with a friend, the friendship of that friend, or something else triggered by what happened during the day.

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Keeping the diary in this way has a number of benefits:

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• I am conscious throughout the day of considering what I am grateful for.  Therefore, I am more positive during the day.

• I finish my day with a sense of gratitude and in a positive frame of mind.

• At the end of one year, I have over 400 things for which I am grateful, ranging from very major aspects of my life to relatively minor ones.

• If a day isn’t going well or something negative occurs, I take out my diary and reflect on what I have written - all the positives in my life.  It doesn’t mean that the negative event goes away, but it does give me a real perspective and I realise that even when negative events occur, there are hundreds of other aspects of my life for which I am grateful.

 

However, as I mentioned above, there are many different formats of Gratitude Diary.  Find one that you think will work for you and start the practice.  Consider the major aspects of your life for which you are probably grateful anyway.  But, more importantly, consider the minor, day-to-day aspects of your life and realise that there is so much in your life for which to be grateful.  It means that you will have a much more positive view of life.  When things go wrong, reflect on the entries in your diary and you will find perspective which will help you to cope with whatever life throws at you.

 

When I am simply grateful, life is simply great. 

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