One easy, daily practice can heal your body, diminish destructive thoughts and emotions, and transform your relationships. What simple habit can you develop to achieve victory through life’s trials? Keeping a daily gratitude journal.
Dr. Robert Emmons, the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude, has conducted studies with hundreds of people, often having them keep a gratitude journal. Practicing thankfulness has proven to promote a healthy lifestyle, bringing people victory over brokenness in their bodies, minds, and relationships.
Those who keep a gratitude journal have reported numerous benefits.
Physically, they experience:
- A more robust immune system
- Fewer aches and pains
- Lower blood pressure
- Improved cardiac health
- Exercising more and enjoying more restful sleep.
Psychologically, daily thanksgiving results in more:
- Positive emotions
- Alertness
- Joy
- Optimism
Socially, gratitude journal keepers find that they feel less lonely and are more:
- Helpful
- Generous
- Compassionate
- Forgiving
Why Gratitude Journaling Works
Thousands of thoughts fly through our minds daily as we change mental gears with a ringing phone, a beeping text or notification, or a knock at the door. Videos, radio, and TV ads entice us to buy things we cannot live without. Songs flood our minds with memories, and worries stab at our hearts.
A wonder happens, however, when you write something down. You reach into myriad thoughts, grab one, and crystallize it into words. Believe it or not, converting ideas into words on paper is a small miracle. Sometimes, you listen to a speaker or read something in a book and think, “This is what I feel and believe!” The speaker or writer took the time to solidify ideas into words, and they happened to align with your thoughts so you could verbalize them. All this happened because someone captured their reflections and crystallized them into words.
When you put pen to paper and tell God what you are thankful for, you bring concretion to constellations of thoughts soaring through your mind and verbalize your thanksgiving. You are meditating upon Him (Psalms 19:14). The world’s clamor falls silent as you give your heart to God in thanksgiving. You melt His heart as you acknowledge Him in all your ways (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Meditating on the good things in life plays a significant role in a healthy lifestyle. Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue (words), and they that love it shall eat its fruit.” Whether our words are good or bad, life or death, we will eat their fruit. Just as negative complaints and criticism sow sickness and death into our lives, thanksgiving and praise yield health and life.
How to Keep a Gratitude Journal
Keeping a gratitude journal is simple yet profound in impacting our lives. Write down three to five things you are thankful for each morning or just before bed at night. How easy is that?
Things to Write in Your Gratitude Journal
What good things happened yesterday or today? Who did you have a pleasant conversation with? Did you learn something from someone in person or on the Internet? Have you had a good belly laugh with a friend? Did you sleep well?
Perhaps you are thankful for something that did not happen, like driving somewhere without an accident or seeing your family arrive home safely. We tend to take so much for granted when things go well, but that’s part of our human nature – to forget God’s blessings. Thank Him for everything He blessed you with and for giving His angels charge over you so you did not get hurt. Write it all down. Pour out your heart to God and thank Him for listening.
Victory
The more you write down your thanksgiving, the more blessings you discover. You will be rewiring your brain to focus on good things, even when you go through life’s trials, pain, and sorrow. Developing an attitude of gratitude will elevate your altitude to see challenges from a higher perspective—God’s.
If you miss a day or two of writing down what you’re thankful for, that’s okay. Get right back to giving the Lord that sweet time to acknowledge Him. As you develop the habit of gratitude journaling, positive thoughts will flow more easily through your mind. You will enjoy more robust health and deeper relationships. Your thanksgiving and praise will draw you closer to the Lord in victory (Psalms 100:4).
Author Bio
Judy earned an associate degree in theology and served as a stateside missionary for two years in her early twenties. She helped her husband start a cleaning and restoration business they still own today and home-educated their three children. She enjoys teaching and giving Bible study presentations, hiking, and volunteering in her community. Judy shares her testimony of a life crisis and the transformative power of gratitude journaling in her book, The Secret to Health and Happiness: Gratitude Journal and Devotions. With enough pages to journal thanks for a year, inspirational quotes and Bible study devotions motivate readers to continue writing their blessings. Over 100 gratitude Scriptures provide daily inspiration. Find more information at Judy’s website or order on Amazon.