Everyone goes through things in life that seem so destructive and cruel, and you struggle to learn how to cope and recover from these difficult times. One great coping skill to use when life gets hard is gratitude. Keeping a gratitude journal is a great way to stay focused on the positive, even when life gets tough.
Finding some good gratitude journal prompts to use to recover is more complex than just one journal entry. Healing and recovery is a process, so it will take a process of journaling to see the results you want. Consistency and faith is the key to practicing bullet journaling in hopes of recovery and healing.
Whatever season of life you are in, no matter how bad, always take time to appreciate the good in life. A wonderful way of doing so is by keeping a gratitude journal. If you don’t know where to start, keep reading to see 10 of the best gratitude journal prompts to help inspire healing and why they work.
Benefits of Keeping gratitude Journal
Gratitude journaling has been shown to bring positive benefits over and over again. Several mental health professionals use it and recommend gratitude journaling to their clients. Finding a way to document and be intentional about the things in your life you are grateful for is an excellent way to introduce a new, more positive perspective into your life.
Just a few of the proven benefits of bullet journaling include:
- Lessens stress and keeps you cool
- Helps you find a new perspective to appreciate life through
- Helps you become more self-aware and intentional
- Refines your focus and determine what you truly value and find important
- Reads through your gratitude journal on bad days to readjust your focus to the positive aspects of life
According to Harvard Health, writing statements of gratitude every day for ten weeks actually made people more optimistic and made them feel better about their lives. Additionally, these people also happened to exercise more frequently and they also had fewer visits to their physicians.
Another study showed that gratitude is incredibly beneficial in relationships. The experiment concluded that couples who more frequently expressed gratitude towards one another felt more affectionate towards one another and felt more comfortable discussing their problems.
As you can see, there are so many amazing benefits to gratitude. It is an excellent way to heal by finding the positives in your life. Here are just a few prompts you can use to start living a grateful life.
Prompts for Your Good Days
Finding the good in life is always a little bit easier after you’ve had a good day. However, it’s still so important to journal, even on your good days, to start developing patterns of positivity and gratitude even on your worst days.
Journaling on your good days can be as lighthearted or as intense as you’d like it to be. It is sometimes easier to focus on the things you are grateful for in the present after you’ve had a particularly good day. Here are a few prompts that can help you accomplish this:
- What is the best song you heard today, and why did you like it?
- Who did you talk to today that made you feel good?
- What is the biggest personal accomplishment you’ve made recently?
- What is the biggest professional accomplishment you’ve made recently?
- What is your current goal, and why is it important to you?
- List the items in your room you are grateful for.
- What is your favorite thing about the current season? Why?
- Write about the qualities you like in a person you don’t typically get along with.
- How have you recently taken care of yourself, mentally and physically?
- Describe a small everyday thing you are appreciative of.
- List things you like about your job.
- Make a list of things you are grateful to have learned recently.
- Write about your favorite outfit. What about it makes it your favorite?
- What made you feel beautiful today or recently?
- What are you most looking forward to this week?
Prompts for Your “Okay” Days
Your “okay” days might possibly be the best days to journal. On your “okay” days, the good things in life are not as easy to identify, and they’re not as easy to be appreciative of. Journaling on your okay days is a great way to pull yourself out of okay and into feeling good.
“Okay” days inspire some of the most intense entries and prompts. They might make you think a little bit harder, but it will pay off in the long run. The more thought and intention you put into your entry, the more peace, healing, and gratitude you get out of it. Here are some great prompts for your most “okay” days:
- What is your favorite childhood memory, and why is it your favorite?
- Who is your most trusted friend? What are your favorite qualities about them?
- What is your favorite family memory?
- What is the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do, and what did you learn from it?
- What are five things you like about yourself?
- What is a lesson you’ve learned from someone you don’t like?
- Write about the perfect bath or shower. Then take one.
- What makes you feel brave?
- What is your favorite thing about yourself physically? Why?
- What is your favorite thing about yourself, mentally? Why?
- What is one topic that makes you feel intelligent?
- What book are you better off having read?
- What is something you take for granted? How can you be more appreciative?
- What did you want to be when you grew up?
- Who inspires you most?
Prompts for Your Worst Days
Worst days: everyone has them, and everyone dreads them. You may feel tempted to just get home and crash into bed after a particularly bad day. However, your worst days are when your journaling habits can bring you the most peace.
It may feel like a challenge, and you may be exhausted, but the simplest prompts can have an amazing effect. Here are just a few to try:
- What was something that happened today that made you stronger?
- What was your biggest accomplishment today?
- What is something you ate today that made you feel nourished?
- How much water did you drink today? Are you happy with that amount?
- What is something that made you laugh today, even if it was small?
- Write about one of your darkest times, and how you’ve grown from it.
- Write about your strength. What has made you strong? Who?
- What gets you out of bed in the morning?
- What is your favorite food? Why?
- What is your favorite color? Why?
- Write about the weather today in as much detail as you can.
- What is something you are good at?
- Where is your favorite vacation spot?
- Write about someone who was kind to you today.
- Write about a recent act of kindness you did.
Conclusion
Life is tough, but always know you are tougher. Gratitude journaling is an incredible way to strengthen yourself in order to keep the focus of your life on the positive. Life won’t stop being difficult, but you can prepare yourself for when it is.
This is just the beginning of all the things you can write about in order to express gratitude. There is no right or wrong when keeping a gratitude journal. As long as you are expressing gratitude, you should reap the benefits and live a positive and more intentional life.
Sources
- Positive Psychology: Gratitude Journal: 67 Templates, Ideas, and Apps for Your Diary
- Live Well with Sharon Martin: The Power of Gratitude: 30 Gratitude Journal Prompts
- Develop Good Habits: 120 Gratitude Journal Prompts to Create More Thankfulness in Your Life
- Art Journalist: 45 Gratitude Journal Prompts & Free Printable
- Harvard Health: Giving Thanks Can Make You Happier
