Tuesday, January 26, 2010

How to daily: Reflect on at least 5 things for which I'm grateful (Happiness Manifesto #2)

"By writing down things I'm grateful for I learned to think about being grateful."


How I did it: Every day I spent some time thinking about things to be grateful for, and wrote them down here. On days that I did not have internet access, I saved them and posted them later.
In the beginning there were a few days that I had skipped, but it soon became a firmly entrenched routine, the last thing I did before I switched off my computer.
It was a rare thing to be able to sit down and rattle off five things to be grateful for. Most days it took some thinking.
Knowing that there would be a quiz at the end, I started paying attention to things I could be grateful for. I made a mental note of the things I noticed, but usually by the end of the day I had forgotten what it was. That did not matter much, because I had already felt grateful, and that's the important thing.


Lessons & tips:


  • It is easy to be grateful in the style of "I am grateful for ... despite ...", but that still contains some negativity. Focus on pure gratitude.

  • Do it every day.


Resources:


  • 43 Things.

  • Other people's gratitude.


It took me 999 days.


It made me grateful