Do we really need to keep a gratitude journal to show our gratitude?  I recently turned on my Kindle and decided to get back into reading Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project.  I discovered the book at Christmas time and found it helpful to get me over my holiday blues.  While I loved the book, it was too much to read all at once, so I decided to read it bit at a time.  This time, when I turned on the Kindle, I noticed I was in the section about writing a gratitude journal.  I chuckled as I recently blogged about my experience in starting one of my own.

Gretchen wrote about her experience in writing a gratitude journal where she felt that after a while, it was forced.  As I read this, I realized that I might be forcing my own gratitude journal.  While I do agree it has helped me feel much more positive about life, I will acknowledge that some days, I feel like I am writing “because I am supposed to” rather than because I am actually acknowledging that which I am grateful for.  She offered some alternatives, which I thought were interesting.  My favorite one is where she sits in a quiet place and thinks about that which she is grateful for, allowing it to consume her mind, body and spirit.  As I write this blog, I am imagining how this type of acknowledgement must feel, and I notice I am feeling very soothed.

I wonder – Do we need to write a gratitude journal?  Perhaps there are other ways to acknowledge our gratitude and the good things that exist or come into our lives.  At the end of the day, we just want to feel good, right?

Now I ask you – How do you acknowledge your gratitude?  Please share.