Gratitude Journal Prompts To Help You Be More Thankful

I’ve always felt like I was a thankful person, but noticed recently that I was really getting caught up in my first world problems. I just wasn’t as thankful for all of my blessings and felt like a lot of my tendency were becoming more selfish.

The anecdote to selfishness is gratitude. So what is gratitude?

Gratitude is the simple ability to appreciate what you have right now. It is the ability to be grateful in the moment even when life is weighing you down and the last thing you want to do is be thankful.

If you are feeling tired, stressed out, overwhelmed, overworked, underappreciated and done with everything, then you need more gratitude in your life. I personally believe that learning to appreciate the blessings we have in our lives and finding the good in everything is the anecdote for all of the overwhelm we experience as wives, mothers and employees.

Shortly after having my daughter I struggled with postpartum depression and was miserable. I wasn’t getting enough sleep and felt like the world was closing in on me. I knew that something needed to change, but wasn’t really sure what I needed to do.

Fortunately I had a wonderful friend who advised me to stop focusing on the negative and find one thing to be thankful for each day. I didn’t work instantly, but I noticed that each day that I focused on the one thing I was grateful for from the previous day I was able to shake off a big of my negativity. It took time, but eventually I was able to break though the haze and pull myself out.

However, to this day (almost four years later), I’ve noticed that I’m more prone to negatives thoughts and so to help myself overcome the negativity I began using gratitude journal prompts.

It is amazing how quickly your attitude changes when you start to list out all of amazing gifts that you have in your life.

Which on a side note, if you are struggling with depression, gratitude prompts will help you get out of your head, but don’t be afraid to get mental health counseling.

Over the last few years, I’ve been compiling my favorite journal prompts and thought that I’d share them with you guys today.

Gratitude Journal Prompts:

1. Who can you count on whenever you need someone to talk to and why?
2. Write about a time when a stranger did something nice for you.
3. What is the hardest things you’ve had to do which lead to a major personal accomplishment?
4. What is your favorite habit and why is it an important part of your daily routine?
5. Write about something kind you’ve done for a stranger recently.
6. Describe a family tradition that you are most thankful for.
7. Who made you smile in the past 24 hour and why?
8. Describe a perfect day that you recently had and why this day was so important in your life.
9. Who is a teacher or a mentor in your life and how have they helped you?
10. What is one thing you’ve learned this week that you’re thankful for?
11. What was something you did for the first time recently?
12. Who has forgiven you for a mistake you’ve made in the past?
13. What have your forgiven yourself for recently?
14. What was the last thank you note you received and why?
15. What is one thing you appreciate about each member of your family?
16. What is a small win you’ve accomplished in the last 24 hours?
17. What book are you most grateful for having read?
18. Describe an experience that was painful but made you a stronger person.
19. What activity do you enjoy doing when alone?
20. What activity do you enjoy doing with others?
21. Describe your oldest friend. What do you like most about this person?
22. What is something you’ve recently fixed?
23. What makes you happy when you’re feeling down?
24. What is your favorite season and what do you like about it?
25. What makes you happy to be alive?
26. List 10 items that you take for granted, which might not be available to other people in other parts of the world?
27. What was your favorite vacation and why?
28. What is your favorite childhood memory and why?
29. What is your favorite song? What lyric speaks directly to you?
30. What is today’s weather and what do you like about it?
31. What lesson have you learned from someone who was rude to you recently?
32. What are 10 things you didn’t have 5 years ago?
33. What activity do you do that helps you feel at peace?
34. What is your favorite charity and why do you support it?
35. What is your favorite memory of you dad?
36. What is your favorite memory of you mom?
37. What is the biggest mistake you’ve made and what did you learn from it?
38. Describe your favorite pet (or former pet)?
39. What do you love about your home/apartment?
40. What are 10 things you can share with other in the next 24 hours to help them feel gratitude?
41. What is one self-care routine you love and why?
42. What is your favorite TV Show and why?
43. What is your favorite way to enjoy nature.

I love gratitude journal prompts and really feel like they make an impact on my life. They help me focus on the good things and help me get out of my head when I’m feeling negative.

Just for the record there is no right or wrong way to do a gratitude journal. I personally use these journals (I’m on my third one). I use them for all of my daily to lists, notes and gratitude prompts, so they are a crazy hot mess.

I’ve got friends who have specific journals set aside that they use. Don’t focus so much on what you are using as making sure that you are doing one prompt every day.

Don’t worry about doing them in order and don’t be afraid to add extra questions to the list – in fact comment below and share your ideas so I can add them to my list.