What happened from the moment you woke up until you read this article that made you say, "I'm glad I'm alive"? Of course, not every day is filled with great miracles, important achievements, and celebrations of long-awaited victories. However, it is a fact that when we focus on thinking a little, we can find something that makes us feel good. For example, I said, 'I'm glad I'm alive!' because I was able to caress my cat and have a pleasant breakfast today.
For Those Who Want to Understand the Background of the Gratitude Journal
Our body develops different mechanisms that enable it to survive. One of the mechanisms that has this continuity and that we will actually direct is the negative thinking bias. Negative thinking bias is an advanced mechanism to protect the body from internal and external threats by enabling the mind to turn its attention to stimuli that may threaten the body rather than current events. Of course, this mechanism has facilitated survival many times throughout the historical process; For example, you went for a walk around the mountains, while the silence of nature breathes peace into you, the slightest rustle of leaves or the sound of broken branches directs your attention to that direction and makes you alert for possible dangers. However, since this mechanism is also active when we are not surrounded by a real threat, when we go for a walk in a sheltered area to calm down, it can negatively affect our mood. Our daily life is full of many stress factors, and when we perceive them not with the severity they are, but with a higher intensity due to negative thinking bias, we encounter the results that we all observe different effects of stress. So what can we do to change this mechanism that kept our ancestors alive but rots us from within? Neuroscientists have demonstrated the brain's plasticity, that is, its ability to stretch, through different studies; our brain can change its way of thinking according to our guidance. When we make positive thinking exercises a habit, our brain can now acquire a positive thinking bias. Fortunately, the diary is an enjoyable method consisting of these scientific outputs.
How should we write?
You can start writing your gratitude journal by thinking about what makes you feel good and alive. the act of writing, It may include taking notes on your phone, or it may include praying. Which way you choose is up to your convenience. Try to be more clear and detailed when writing instead of general expressions. If you are grateful for your friends, you can focus on their positive impact on you. What you can pay attention to is that, especially when talking about other people, you focus on how you are affected by them. So the focus is on you. If you want to write, using a notebook you like can increase your motivation to write.
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5 items may be enough.
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Do not rush. Don't let this become a necessity for you. Imagine having 5 minutes as a gift to yourself among all the hustle and bustle.
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There are studies proving that it is more effective to write a gratitude journal a few days a week instead of every day.
What can we be thankful for?
The things in my life right now are the first reasons that come to my mind for gratitude. My cat, my friends who think about my problems more than me, my family who is with me under all circumstances, my profession that connects me to life... Of course, I can also be thankful for those who are not in my life right now, for example, my depression that takes my colors from life. I can also thank my computer for allowing me to send you this article. I am grateful almost every day to my master's degree, which, although it pushes myself from time to time, further reinforces my thirst for knowledge and illuminates the uncertain path I follow. Now that I think about it, the bad news I didn't receive today made me say I'm glad I'm alive. Queen is another factor that makes my ears and soul feast by being present in this life.
How can Gratitude Journal affect you in the long run?
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It reduces your stress level.
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It makes you feel calmer, especially at night.
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It helps you focus on what really matters in your life.
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It helps you understand what you want more of in your life and what you are better off without.
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It helps you know yourself better and strengthens your self-awareness.
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When you feel depressed, reading what you wrote in previous times will improve your mood. It can make you feel more positive.
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