Gratitude Journals

A few days ago, I had a conversation, well, a Facebook conversation, with a friend of mine.  We don’t know each other well but I have learned a great deal about her, and from her.  She is a professor, a poet, and a coach.  She posts some pretty cool things on Facebook and she often will comment on things that I post.  So, the other day, when I was feeling a bit down, I messaged her to chat about meditation and positive thinking.  After our chat, she left me with an assignment.  She asked me to tell her what action I was now going to take.  I told her I would write down 5 things that I like about myself.  I have been doing that for the last 3 days but I am also writing things I am grateful for.

Gratitude is something I have been working on a lot.  I find that when I run, if I think about things I am grateful for, I run better.  My pains go away and my running becomes easier.  My rhythm becomes more consistent and sometimes, I even smile.  I figured that writing my feelings of gratitude in the morning may help me to have a better day.  And, so far, it has been working.

I was curious about the power of gratitude so I poked around the Internet and found a very cool article about Gratitude Journals.  There is evidence that Gratitude Journals can be effective ways to increase happiness, improve sleep, and reduce the incidence of illness.  Evidence also exists that indicates that these journals don’t always work.  Professor Robert Emmons from UC-Davis suggests the following tips for success:

• Don’t just go through the motions
• Go for depth over breadth
• Get personal
• Try subtraction, not just addition
• Savor surprise
• Don’t overdo it

Professor Emmons suggests that there is no one right way or best way to keep a journal.  The secret to success is to just do it and establish a habit.  Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?  I think it is a law of human behavior.

For more information about Gratitude Journals, check out http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/tips_for_keeping_a_gratitude_journal.