When I was lost in my own long grass a few years ago, someone suggested I start a Gratitude Journal. That every day for a month, I would write three things for which I was grateful that day. I pooh-poohed it, to be honest. It seemed too lightweight and silly as a path forward from where I was.

But I was desperate so I gave it a try anyway. Not perfectly, not consistently, but I gave it a pretty good go. At first my three things were infinitesimally small because the bad things felt very big indeed. A good cup of coffee. A first daffodil. Being able to eat a yogurt. Nothing to throw a parade about.

And then I found that something slightly strange happened. I stopped writing things down but those three things became my last conscious thought before I went to sleep and when I woke up. I noticed that I was starting to look for good things almost as if I were filing them away for later. And the more I looked, the more I found. And then the more I found, the more I started making, so it evolved from a passive activity to an active one.

What has your experience of writing in a Gratitude Journal been? What helped, what didn’t and what were the benefits for you?