Why Using a Gratitude Journal Can Change the Way You Think.

I hope that you all had an amazing Mother’s Day weekend! You all deserved special treatment & I hope you were able to do exactly what you wanted to do! I also hope that you got some extra special hugs & kisses too! 🙂

You will all get to know me over time & you will know that nothing is more dear to my heart then spending time with my family & that is exactly what I did this weekend! 🙂

We had fun reminiscing, telling funny stories around the bonfire with our sons, daughter, cousins & their friends that had just come home from college. There is nothing better than hearing them tell stories from years ago while growing up at our house & the funny things that they did! It is so heart warming that they still love coming “home” to spend time with us. 🙂

That is all I wanted for Mother’s Day & I am so lucky that I received that & so much more! My boys bought me trees & flowers, then we spent the day all together working in the yard & planting all of them! It was just perfect! 🙂

We have a lot of landscaping to do since we have had to start all over since the fire! A work in progress is what I call it! Here is a picture of my good-looking yard crew! 🙂

I also received an amazing surprise when I went to bed on Sunday evening. I found a letter from my 14-year-old son that literally melted my heart.

He must have read my post on Friday regarding Handwritten Letters & the tears started flowing when I read it. Honestly, it just made me realize even more that receiving hand written letters is a tremendous gift that continually gives as I will cherish this letter forever!

I have been thinking of you all so much as I remember the starting point of my journey & I remember exactly how I felt in the beginning! It was uncomfortable, hard, & sometimes seemed like it could be an impossible task as I had so many tragedies & hard things happening in my life during that time.

At the same time, I felt so ashamed of myself & somewhat taken back at how ungrateful I had become! It actually put me in an awkward spot emotionally at some point, because I was so disappointed in myself.

DON’T let that happen to you!

As I look back, becoming aware of my feelings was the biggest, most life changing, task that I have ever taken on & it was worth every second! You start learning so much about yourself that it becomes exciting & a challenge to yourself to become better, more positive, so you must keep going! Trust me you’re going to LOVE it & you are going to feel incredible! 🙂

If you were paying attention to your thoughts & took some notes on what you were thinking then you are on the right track of becoming AWARE & I am so proud of you! This is a very big deal as this is the very first step in making the change to creating a happier YOU! You are laying a foundation to build upon & you should be proud of YOURSELVES! 🙂

I was very excited to receive private messages from some of you on my blog & FB last week that are on this journey with me! I knew this topic had struck a chord within you & I loved hearing that you were becoming more AWARE of your feelings & becoming more grateful for things throughout your day! That made my day! Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂

That is what this blog is all about! Having a support group to get you through this! It is a beautiful but sometimes challenging journey that is even better when you’re able to share it with others! 🙂

I would love to share with you all something very important that I became aware of last week thanks to a very dear friend of mine!

I have a beautiful friend who had texted me after my last post was published & asked if this would be good for her preteen boys to learn. It sparked my attention as I was surprised at myself for not mentioning how important this is!

ABSOLUTELY get your children involved…the younger the better! As we adults are learning this important step of awareness we should absolutely be teaching it to our children as well. 🙂

Can you imagine how differently we would be living our lives if we had been taught this lesson of awareness & gratitude as a child? It would be truly amazing!

I am passionate about this topic & have started teaching courses to educate children on this very topic! So please talk to your kids because it is such a beautiful lesson to learn as an entire family & it brings you all closer together on this journey of life! You will all become more grateful of each other & you will be there to encourage & inspire one another along the way! 🙂

You’ll be amazed at the outcome as you all grow together! 🙂

So …..now we know to focus on our feelings within at all times & to share these lessons with our children, right? So what is next? What is that next step to creating happiness within you?

Well, this is still one of my FAVORITE steps of all! A step that I still use today, every day, literally! A step that I can do & it changes my attitude instantly!

Step 1: Create a Gratitude Journal.

You may want to know what the heck a Gratitude Journal is? Don’t be worried, it doesn’t have to be anything crazy! Just a notebook or tablet of paper will do! Something that you can keep beside your bed or wherever you feel comfortable writing & something that you can always find! 🙂

I have had nearly 35 Gratitude Journals since I have started this process…..some were beautiful, some I made, some I bought, whatever is best for you! 🙂

Step 2: Wake up each morning & instantly think of 10 things to be grateful for & write them down in your Gratitude Journal!

I know this sounds crazy because most of us wake up to an alarm in the morning then we hurry to get the kids up, make coffee, breakfast, pack lunches, shower, get the kids ready & we rush, rush, rush, through our mornings, right? So you’re probably thinking that you don’t have time for that in the morning! Your morning schedule is crazy enough as it is!

Many of you may not be happy about what your daily routine is like, you may not like going to work at your job, your children may not like their teacher, you may feel rushed & tired in the morning, maybe a little cranky?

This is exactly why it is so important to do this first thing in the morning right when you awake!

When you immediately think of 10 things to be grateful for in the morning it changes your entire thought process from complaining or negative thoughts to thoughts of things to be grateful for! It is AMAZING & more powerful than you could ever imagine because it literally can change the entire course of your day! I know from experience! 🙂

This is a complete game changer once you become consistent in doing it! 🙂

Trust me it is easy! No matter how down we think we are in life, how little we may have, we ALWAYS have SOMETHING to be grateful for!

These are some examples of what my thoughts are when I awake each day:

I am grateful for life each day.
I am grateful for each breath I take.
I am grateful my healthy body, inside & out.
I am grateful for my family (husband, children, parents, brothers, etc.)
I am grateful for the love we all share.
I am grateful for my families good health.
My pets.
I am grateful for my home, good, bad, or ugly, I am always thankful for it! (& during the rebuild it was pretty ugly, but I was still so incredibly grateful)
I am grateful for lights, heat, water, warm water, blankets, beds, all of the comforts of my home.
I am grateful for every penny in my account…even if it is just a penny…I am very grateful.
I am grateful for all of the money that continues to come to our family.
I am grateful for my car.
The changing seasons.
Laughter.
I am grateful for the sun, rain, whatever weather we have…it is all beautiful in its own way. 🙂
I am grateful for my clothes, the kid’s school, our community, my work, my husbands work, being able to make decisions, the military, to live in the United States of America, FREEDOM, Etc., Etc..
We have SO much to be THANKFUL for!

Just reading through that list do you feel different? Does it feel uplifting? Being grateful for the little things (that are actually big) that we take for granted each & every day! 🙂

You’ll learn many things about me on this journey & I will tell you there were some times when the economy had crashed 8 years ago & we had lost over 5 millions dollars of work that I was scared every single day about losing our home, having food to feed my children, having money to buy gas for the car, etc..

It was a scary time for many of us, but I kept writing in my Gratitude Journal each & every day all of the things that I had to be grateful for & sure enough we made it through each & every day with enough to get by & more. 🙂

As I wrote each line of my Gratitude Journal I was able to breathe a little softer, by the tenth or twentieth line, I was able to focus on what was really important in my life. My family, love, laughter happiness, & our health.

The beauty of life is was what is important. We all get so caught up in what we DON”T have that we miss out on the beautiful things that we are surrounded by on a daily basis!

That is beautiful & that is what life is about! 🙂

So…I want you to grab a notebook, tablet, something that you can write on for the next week, set that alarm just 10 minutes earlier than it is normally set for, then the minute your brain starts to awake I want you to start thinking of things that you’re grateful for & get to writing! 🙂

Talk with your kids about what they are grateful for as your fixing breakfast or getting them ready for school as it is the perfect way for them to start their day as well! Share your list with them too as it creates a bond between you both!

I know that this may seem too easy, or you may want to have all of the steps to create your happiness all at once, but there is a reason that we are taking baby steps. I immersed myself into everything that I could find when I was on this journey & it was overwhelming & kept me from progressing because I had too many things to think about each day.

I finally started seeing progress in myself when I took it one step at a time & literally focused on each building block until I became comfortable & it became part of my daily living! Focusing on too much creates confusion, which keeps you from growing & moving forward.

Keep it very simple. Continue to be aware of your thoughts throughout the day, use that journal to record your feelings & write you Gratitude List each morning! 🙂

You will start seeing a change within yourself in just a few days. Give yourself this time to adapt to each step…we are not in a relay race we are in a marathon so we must pace ourselves! 🙂

I am so incredibly proud of you all & I can’t wait to see your progress! I would LOVE to have you comment & leave feedback below on what your thoughts are!~

So here we go! Time to be grateful!

You got this guys!

Much love to you all!

Until Saturday,

XOXO,

Kristi