Creating a gratitude journal

Unlike my last post this one will be long...so long it may take to posts to get it all in. We'll see...
Yesterday on Facebook, one of my friends posted something that peeked my interest, so I went into it to see what it was all about and this is what I found: "How to Start a Gratitude Journal". Here is the web address to see what it is all about:
http://www.wikihow.com/Start-a-Gratitude-Journal. I love this idea - however, I am going to take it a step further they they do...The premise is that you have to write about things you are thankful for. I am going to thank God for these things...

Here is what I am hoping that it will do for me...I am hoping that it will cause me to become a more thankful person, a more positive person and that being thankful will become the norm for me...and also that if I get down, I read this journal and it will bring me back up...

There are certain criteria for doing this and if you don't want to go to the website to find out what they are, I will tell you here.

1. Each day write down a certain number of things you are thankful to God for...I am going to try to do 3 a day...Avoid saying the same things over and over...this will make it challenging down the road, coming up with new things every day...this is a good thing however, because it will make you think of things to than k God for that may never of thought of before...This will cause your awareness of being thankful to God to grow...many people start off by thanking God for the material things they have in their lives...it is an easy place to start...that's good but you also have to say why you are thankful for that perticular thing or person and how it or they make you feel...(example...I am thankful to God for my house. It warms my body and protects me. It gives me a sense of relief knowing that there is always a comforting place to come back to).

2. Write about extended things in your life. These will vary from person to person because everyone likes different things...(example...If you paint, you may be thankful for the paints that you have).

3. Describe how you are thankful for yourself...this may be hard at first, especially if you have low self esteem like I used to...Start by being thankful for being alive, then thank God for the body He gave you even if you don't like some things about it...This will eventually help you to have a better picture of yourself and it will help you to have a better, positive attitude about yourself.

4. Avoid being thankful for something because it is better than what someone else has...instead be thankful because you have it...

5. Think about your abilities...You may want to be thankful for things like the ability to see or hear, but then go deeper...be thankful for the things that are unique to you...things like playing an instrument or sing or write or being good at crafts or being a good friend...or being an encourager...

6. What about the people in your life...are you thankful for them...your family, friends, co-workers, boss, neighbours...you can even include your pets here...tell why you are thankful for each person and how they make you feel...you can even write about people you have problems with...thank God for these people and find something about them that you are thankful for...find the good in them...this will help your relatrionships with people become better and stonger...there is good in everyone, so look for it and be thankful for it...

I am hoping that this will make me a more uplifting person and that people will see a difference in me because of it...and if they don't, oh well..all that matters is that God sees the difference and that I will become a stronger person through it.

I hope you take this challenge...I have...I started last night...in my next blog I will list the things I put last night...

Start thanking God right now for what He has given you...if you think about it, He has given us a lot to be thankful about...so why not thank Him...if someone gives you a gift you thank them...think about all the wonderful things God has given you and thank Him for them...one by one...it might take you the rest of your life to thank Him for everything, but that's OK...it's a good thing to do...