The hidden happiness booster
Let me guess, you’re tired of being emotionless everyday. It seems like all that surrounds you is pain and sadness. Well, fear not, because I have gotten my hands on the greatest depression-killer ever. Gratitude journalling.
Now to break the word down. Gratitude. What is gratitude? It is a human emotion that shows when you’re really thankful for someone or something, and you want to show kindness back to the person. It also means that you are content with what you have rather than what you could have at the present moment.
Next up, journalling. This is the weird nerd stuff that you might think is weird and out of place, but it’s really not. Don’t trust me? Try gratitude journalling for one week straight and do it the right way. Anyway, back to explaining what journalling is even though you probably know it anyway. It is the act of writing down stuff in a book, mainly thoughts and what happened with you through the day.
Let’s PPaP this. So, what’s gratitude journalling? It is the act of writing down anything that you are grateful for. That absolute banger of a song that made your day to listen to? Write it down. That nice friend who offered to help you with something tough? Scribble it somewhere. And that nice sunrise that you get to witness after waking up? JOT. IT. DOWN.
If you want to create a habit, start with writing down five things that increase your gratitude. Go ahead and write another sentence on the same thing explaining why you are grateful for it. Feeling ambitious? Make it ten sentences. The more you write, the happier you will be is what I have observed from personal experience.
With me proclaiming it is a must-have habit, it must be said that like one of those smoking is injurious to health disclaimers when any actor is smoking, it does take time to create a habit, something like a month if I remember correctly, so take your time, and do not rush with it even if you are frustrated as all hell.
Obviously, it would be meaningless to tell you to do something that you have listened to by some crazy dude on the internet, but hey, I think telling you the benefits of doing this daily will convince you.
For starters, your happiness will skyrocket. Gratitude is a powerful emotion that can also erase anger. If you want to up your happy levels on a daily scale, this might be your way to go.
It also improves your personality, which might seem far-fetched but when you take time out of your day to focus on the good stuff in life, you block out all the bad stuff going on as well. It makes way for your positive values and virtues to grow.
If you ever feel like your life is good, but repetitively boring, sure, go do something different to break the bubble, but also take time to realize how opportune you are for this present moment, using none other than gratitude journalling.
I think that’s enough benefits for you to start right now. Besides, what will it cost you? A pen and paper, maybe some five minutes of your precious time. You spend so much money on nice cars, expensive watches and stuff, but that’s what you’re gonna easily get used to. You can never get used to being thankful for someone.
Good night and good luck, people of Medium, and tell me if you face any difficulty or have any questions with gratitude journalling in the comments below. I believe in you.
Wait, you read till the end of this article? Wow, I really appreciate you. Here’s two more articles for you to read if you want to become better faster (only if you want to):-
