A Gift to Yourself: Gratitude (with an app!)
One of the simplest ways to feel the joy of parenting or even just the joy of everyday life is by reminding yourself of the things that you are grateful for. Furthermore, writing about these things is one of the most powerful ways to anchor that feeling of happiness. Christine Carter, in her book Raising Happiness, describes a study where a group of people listed five things they were grateful for once a week for ten weeks. At the end of the study, participants "felt better about their lives as a whole and were more optimistic about their future."
There are a number of ways to track gratitude, from a simple blank journal to our current, more techno-savvy version: the iPhone app!...
The Gratitude Journal Application by happytapper prompts you to write down things your are grateful for each day, as well as to add a photo and to rate each day.
The app itself is very user friendly, and allows you to refer back to the lists from previous days to reflect on the week. Julie loves the photo feature - and takes a picture (usually of her kids) doing whatever it is they did that day to make her smile. Roma loves the inspiring collection of quotes that she can access by pressing the "thought bubble." Highly Recommended!
Julie's story: I added this to my app library a number of months ago and I love using it to track my days. I add to it throughout the day and it helps keep me present and grateful for the small things that happen all around me. My kids have even noticed this and when they do something that they KNOW will make me happy (such as being particularly nice to each other), have been known to ask if I am going to write that down!
Roma's story: I decided to try this on myself and downloaded this application three months ago. I pride myself in being a generally grateful and positive person, but actually making a list of things that I am grateful for EVERYDAY right before I went to bed helped me feel better and sleep better! No matter what my daily challenges, as I express my thankfulness in words, I start to smile and feel happy and light-hearted!
Give the app a try (or just write your 5 things down) and let us know if you see any change in yourself. Did it work for you?
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