Gratitude Journals, that thing that you hear every self-help guru, high performer, and many athletes talk about. Between gratitude journals and meditation, you would think that the world did not function without them.

For a long time, I was pretty hesitant to have a gratitude journal. It all sounded so woo and honestly kinda stupid. But in the last couple of years, I have been embracing the woo and looking at what it really is when I think something is stupid. What I have come to realize is what I was labeling stupid was actually just me being afraid of it.

What if I can’t think of something to be grateful for every day? 

What happens if my gratitude journal isn’t good enough?

Do I really have to do this thing twice a day? 

The list of questions and most of them personal fears underneath. But I vowed to make some changes in 2018, incorporate more self-care practices and as of February 1, 2018, started a gratitude journal. After looking around the internet for the “right one” I found The 5-Minute Journal.

While many get turned on by celebrity endorsements, for me it actually makes me look for alternatives. Maybe I just always want to be indie and go to my own beat. But either way after an afternoon looking at various journals I came to The 5-Minute Journal to fit my lifestyle, simple, easy, and straight to the point.

What have I learned since starting?

The little things. When I flip through the pages of my journal the things that I am most grateful for daily are the little things, my pets, a healthy meal, a good night’s sleep, and finally friendship in all it’s forms.  I wrote yesterday about what it means to be healthy in ReThinking What it Means to be Healthy. When I look at the gratitude journal I find myself grateful for many of the areas which I identified in the parts of my healthy pie.

At the end of the day, being grateful for the small things in life I find the most rewarding. Like recently on a friends weekend, at the end of the day, I was most grateful for laughing my ass off with a friend. Like nearly on the ground laughing. Gratitude comes from the little things in life, not just the big blockbuster events.

I write this quick post not just as a reminder to myself that the things I think are stupid sometimes are what I need most. If it resonates with you let me know. What self-care practices do you have?