The one thing I learned along my journey of gratitude is that; "if you can see it in your mind, you can hold it in your hand." -Bob Proctor; with that being said, the best way to see those things that we are grateful for now, and those things that we truly want for ourselves is to write them down in a journal. The more I saw those things in my mind, the more I wanted to solidify them by writing them down in a journal to reference them and look at them every day. The more I saw what I wanted every day, the more power I gave to that thing, and the more power I gave to it, the more of a chance that something materialized in my life.
Journaling what you are grateful for not only helps you see what you have in front of you, but it is that pencil-to-paper connection that helps bring what we want for ourselves to the forefront of our minds and connects our hearts to what truly matters. Each new day is a day to journal what you have in your life. Writing down three to five things every day, then taking it a step further and journaling why you are thankful for those things, will take you to the next level of your reason for having something in your life.
The more you allow yourself permission to write, the more ingrained the habit will become, and the more entrenched the practice becomes, the easier it will be for you to set a time each day to write down those three to five things to be grateful for each day.
There were those days that I found I wasn't grateful for anything; I would be sitting home after having a series of seizures, and I had to take off work, or my joints hurt just from regular wear and tear of aging with cerebral Palsy, and I would think how I can be grateful? It was then that I looked at things a little deeper, and instead of writing about being grateful for something, I allowed myself to become thankful in my circumstance. I would journal about how grateful I was to be in pain and even to have aches and a brain that may act up every so often. When I put these words and thoughts down on paper, I immediately began to feel lighter and see my current circumstances differently.
When you are not feeling grateful for something and can't seem to find a reason to be grateful, take a step back for a moment and look at your current circumstance and all the reasons to be thankful in your current state of being. You were given this current set of circumstances for a reason, and the more you allow yourself to show gratitude for those conditions, the lighter and more at ease you will begin to feel. Life is not easy by any measure, but journaling the things you are grateful for and the circumstances you are thankful in will open up a world of more profound peace and calm that your mind and heart need to take you to the next level of the life you want for yourself.
Gratitude, in the end, was just the beginning for me. It was the driving force behind everything that has made me who I am today. As I look back at my life today and see how gratitude has changed my life and helped me focus on being the person I want to be today from the person I once was, I am in awe of myself. The more grateful I became for my situation and circumstances, the easier it became for me to look at my life in a more accepting light. The things I once didn't accept about myself started to disappear, and the person I have suddenly appeared.
Start with one thing that you are grateful for; it doesn't have to be anything big; it is most often the little things that turn out to be the big things, but just pick one. As you focus on this one thing, write it down, then put down another, let that sink in, and then write down a third. When you have written down your three things, close your eyes, take a deep breath in, and then let it out, allowing yourself to fully feel those three things.