Life is busy, and the days are too short to do it all. What if I told you that just 10 minutes a day could shift your perspective from stressed to blessed? The key to this practice is writing it, meditating on it, expressing it, and talking about it. This article will review how to do the gratitude journal practice exercise, the three blessings, and five easy steps to be more grateful.
The Three Blessings Exercise
Before you begin this exercise, take a moment to pause and breathe in and out deeply. Breathe in quiet and exhale any worries or concerns. Do your best just to let go of all you need to get done. If you are new to breath work, ease into it slowly. It may take you between five to ten rounds of a breathing exercise to get relaxed. For the three blessings exercise, you want to be as present as possible. Tell yourself there is nothing else you need to be doing, and everything is ok. Grab your journal and begin by recalling things that happened to you today that went well. They need not be anything significant, just something good. The three blessings exercise one of seven described in Robert A Emmons’ book Gratitude Works. Get this book, it is a game changer!!
What Went Well for You Today
For example, suppose your coworker did something to help you out, an old friend called you out of the blue, and you finally finished a critical project. Write each event separately and reflect and elaborate on the following gratitude elements:
- Recall what went well for you today.
- Write a few things that remind you of the event.
- Reflect on what about the event was good.
- List as many reasons as you can.
Consider:
- Why did it go well?
- Why do you think it happened?
- What does it mean to you?
- Who was involved in making it happen? How many ways do you appreciate this person?
- Be sure to feel the appreciation in your heart, allow yourself to sit with it, and be grateful.
- Breathe into the goodness of this feeling.
- To upgrade the experience, tell someone about the three blessings you experienced.
- Repeat for each one
If you are doing the 21-day gratitude journal challenge from Gratitude Works, you will do this exercise on days one, eight, and fifteen. If you decide you want to do the activity outside of the challenge, then be sure to switch around the exercises. You might do a gratitude letter, or the to whom and for what exercise. The gratitude letter is one you write to someone who had a profound effect on your life, and you tell them the ways they blessed you. To Whom and For What is recalling who did something for you and what blessing you received. For more details on all seven of the exercises in the challenge see the 21- Day Gratitude Challenge PDF.
Optimism and Gratitude are Mindset Vitamins
Meditating or pondering at the moment for what went well for you each day shifts your mindset from what you lack to what is abundant. It is an incredibly optimistic lens that is hopeful and available to be noticed repeatedly. It is impossible to be pessimistic when you are counting your blessings. Being negative is draining, and having gratitude is energizing. Lean into gratitude as though it is nourishment to your best self.
What are the Benefits of Journaling What Went Well Today?
The three blessings exercise is designed to bring about emotional prosperity. Studies have shown that people who practice journaling have a keenly optimistic perspective. It is no surprise that they know their purpose, have more confidence, achieve their goals, and feel secure self-worth. They are not only generous, but they go out of their way to help others. They can better deal with the stressful events and circumstances life brings. Indeed, having and practicing gratitude makes one happier.
What is a blessing?
A blessing gives credit to someone for a favor or token of affection. Think of a blessing as a gift that you appreciate without any expectation of reciprocity. It is an excellent idea to pay attention to the intention of kindness given. Benefits are richer when you notice in your heart the origin and reason for the blessing.
5 Easy Steps to Be More Grateful
Practice Mindfulness and Noticing Your Blessings
Improved quality of life and mood result from recognizing and being mindful of the blessings you have received in a day. It is commonly get caught in a whirlwind of to-dos and stressors. What if you can mindfully acknowledge the simple, small, large, and or significant gifts? What might take place? As familiar as the word mindfulness is, is it something you take the time to practice? Mindfulness can happen in a few minutes; in this ten-minute gratitude journal exercise, do your best to focus on the one thing that went well and pause.
Mindfulness is a skill of focus. It can just be a few minutes of allowing yourself not to judge how and what your thoughts are, observe and come back to the moment. You can focus on your breath while doing this exercise and internally thinking. On the inhale, “I am grateful today.” On the exhale, focus on “letting go of any concerns.” Being mindful is an essential element to living a more peaceful life. More peace means less stress, and less stress feels so good!
Do a Morning Intention
Early each day, take a few minutes to remember that this is a new journey for you. Your morning intention will be to ponder on “I am aware of the many things and people in my life that I am grateful for.” Doing this will better alert you to recognize what is going well. Hopefully, you will remember to be cognizant each time you move into feeling or thinking negatively. If your pattern is to be more on the pessimistic side, consistently doing this intentional practice will be very helpful.
Having an early morning impression of what you are grateful for will elevate your mood and joy. Shifting your focus towards gratitude will take practice.
Share the Blessings
Telling others you spend time with about the things that go well for you will pave the way for an even more enjoyable result. When you communicate to your friends and family, you create a link to the memory and its bountiful effect on you. You are constructing pathways to optimism instead of possibly defaulting to an expose of your complaints.
We all occasionally fall into the trap of hearing someone go on and on about their unpleasant stories. Listening to a rant like that is not fun. But when we share excitement and appreciation, not only do you receive the blessing of the recalling and telling, but the listener gains the benefit of hearing good news!! How refreshing to share a pleasant outcome in this overwhelmingly challenging environment we find ourselves in 2021.
Pay it Forward
Yes, we are all busy and do not need another thing to do. But, consider the beauty of doing at least one good thing to someone else during the day. It could be getting someone their coffee, opening a door for someone, picking up the tab at lunch. It can be a compliment, a note, a phone call. Make it your business to spread gratitude by paying it forward. If this is your nature already, then upgrade to adding more smiling to your day. Have you noticed how wonderful it is to see a smile lately?
Be Disciplined
Discipline is not popular, but it is the secret to anyone who has achieved great success. Without regular set times to do a practice, the likelihood of achieving results is very slim.
Gratitude is a virtue, and it grows with continued effort. If having more energy, confidence, feeling more peaceful, being less stressed, and having a purpose are stunning results, gratitude is worth pursuing. Like building the six-pack ab muscles, you got to do the work!! Is anyone born with perfect abs? Neither is anyone born with an abundant gratitude muscle.
Our natural tendency is to see the glass half empty, and being grateful requires work. The effort does pay off, but discipline is necessary. To sustain your gratitude muscle be sure to practice the three-blessing exercise, gratitude letter writing, and reflecting.
Do the Challenge!!
In this article, we learned how to do the three blessings exercise described in the book.
Gratitude Works by Robert Emmons. Recall three things that went well and notice who went out of their way for you, what event occurred that went well, what about it went well. Recall what the event means to you and tell someone about it. Do this exercise on days one, eight, and fifteen. There are seven exercises in the twenty-one-day gratitude journal challenge. Consider how the five easy ways to be more grateful, including being mindful and noticing what went well, morning intentions, paying it forward, share the blessings, and being disciplined. Learn How to do the gratitude journal practice exercise, the three benefits, and Five Easy Steps to be more grateful.
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