Want To Be Happy?

Hey everybody, thanks for stopping by!  I mentioned in the The Importance of Self Care post that I would explain the gratitude list/journaling thing another post.  So, here I am.

I love lists.  They make my world go round.  If you follow me on Instagram, you know what I'm talking about lol. I started writing gratitude lists I think around September of 2016 when I found myself in a slump due to some things I had going on in my life.  I was confused as to why some things I had been working hard for hadn't manifested yet.  I didn't understand why I wasn't getting answers to certain things.  It seemed like as soon as I escaped one bad situation there was an even worse one around the corner.  I was constantly tired and stressed, had no interest in going to the gym.  I was complaining more than usual, I wasn't interested in being social, and generally speaking I was just more blah than I was happy.  Because this was a different kind of slump that I hadn't seen in a long time, I knew that I had to implement a different kind of solution.  So of course, I turned to self care and tried to figure out what I could do differently, and thus the gratitude list was born.

In order to change my attitude, I have to be in a constant state of gratitude.

This is something that I learned the hard way, but learning this has been so worth it.  On this gratitude list, I wrote down everything that is positive in my life, big and small.  I've never had to worry about having a place to live.  Never had to worry about having food to eat.  Never been in the hospital aside from the day I was born.  I'm an able bodied person.  I have an amazing support system that tells me what I want and need to hear.  I've never had to figure out if I'm going to mom's or dad's for the holidays because they're under the same roof.  I grew up surrounded by positive role models.  I was able to go to college to further my education and graduate with a degree and no debt.  I secured a post-grad job well before graduation.  I'm alive.  And when I have felt like I have nothing, God's grace has always been sufficient.

Now I keep a gratitude list EVERYWHERE lol.  In my laptop case, on my dresser, in my wallet, in the Notes on my phone.  Anytime I catch myself complaining or super frustrated about anything (and a lot of my problems are #firstworldproblems if we're being honest), I'll pull up one of those lists and just read it.  Writing a gratitude list forces you to think about things that you are grateful for.  In forcing you to think about what you're grateful for, you have to think about things that you have that have positively affected you, and things that you have that other people don't have.  Things that you take for granted.  Y'all, believe me when I say that writing a gratitude list will change your attitude!

Journaling has also been very helpful for me.  It's kind of like a gratitude list on steroids.  I get to look back and see what I was frustrated about months ago and how it either came to fruition or how it became a complete non-factor in the months that have passed since.  It's like a time capsule full of growth, you can literally see how you grow and change right before your eyes, and growth in any area is always something to be grateful for.

So now you know why I do what I do, and I hope that I've encouraged you to take a step back every now and then and stop focusing on what you have yet to acquire or become, and start focusing on how much you have done and what you possess right now.  There's so much to be grateful for, and gratitude almost always, imminently, leads to happiness.  Trust the process, in and out of season.

Thanks for journeying with me.