I thought I’d share a little experiment I recently came up with. I’m an avid and life long journaler–it helps me formulate SO many new ideas and dig deeper into all aspects of my life.
One morning I challenged myself to carry a pen and paper throughout my day (notes on your phone would work too) and jot down each time I felt a ping of joy, satisfaction, or excitement. And then write about the experience later in the evening.
I was able to start immediately–#1: I had zero stress or dread about the upcoming day. This was not always the case for my life/work situation so it feels like a huge gift! The rest of my list was a range of fairly simple things….
Kind words from a colleague, a sip of my homemade chai, a cool breeze, wearing pink while working with pink:), setting diamonds in a custom ring, an opal purchase, etc
In many gratitude practices they suggest making a list of things you’re grateful for or making a mental note of the good things from the day. In fact I’ve been doing that for years. But THIS felt so much more powerful than that. This was gratitude-on-the-spot! I felt like a kid in a candy store looking for things to get excited about. And knowing I had to write them down meant I was pausing on that joy a little longer and fully feeling it in the moment.
And that was the key difference from the usual gratitude list-making….instead of flatly thinking of things to be grateful for I was feeling my way through it, being really present with it, and amplifying the goodness before me.
The momentum built as the day went on and I wondered how this day could possibly get any better! Even though nothing epic happened. So if you’re feeling a little stale or you’ve heard people throwing around the term “abundance mindset” and you’d like a piece of that, try my little experiment. You’ll be so grateful you did.
Let me know how it goes! I have so many more journal ideas I’ve almost thought about putting together a journal for others…..maybe, someday.