Being grateful for where and who you are at this very moment is important during your healing journey. Being able to recognize how far you have come can be difficult, but when you have a journal where you discuss the things you are grateful for, it can help you see your growth and development. Gratitude writing has so many benefits, and everyone should try it out.

Scientific studies showed that people who keep gratitude journals or write about what they are grateful for feel happier. The studies showed that the group who wrote gratitude letters had a significant improvement with their mental health and were less likely to feel depressed because they were focusing on the things that made them feel good rather than wallowing in the things that made them upset. The studies showed that they had a more positive outlook and were more satisfied with life.

If you have anxiety, it is also recommended to use gratitude writing as a way to cope with it. Because anxiety typically causes a person to focus solely on the negative and worry about the unknown, gratitude writing can be beneficial to help them remain grounded and rooted in reality. It can be helpful to take one’s mind off of what is making them anxious by writing about what has made them happy or what they are grateful for in their life.

Gratitude writing can also support a less materialistic lifestyle. Typically, on healing journeys, we tend to turn to materials to try to fill the void inside of us. However, if we instead write about how much we appreciate what we have, we can be less likely to want to have material items. We can find a newfound appreciation in everything we already have.

If you end your day with gratitude writing, you are more likely to get a better night’s rest, as well. By focusing on the good things we experienced throughout the day, we are less likely to dwell on what negatively affected us. These negative experiences are typically what cause us anxiety about tomorrow or heavy emotions that can make it harder to fall asleep or have a decent night’s rest. Ending your day on a positive note with gratitude journaling can help you think about the good that happened that day, thus leading you to have a more peaceful night.

So how can you begin gratitude writing? You can start small by writing a list of five things you were grateful for that day. These things can be monumental such as getting paid more than you thought you were or being thankful that your card wasn’t stolen when you accidentally left it at a store. However, these things can also be small; for example, you may be grateful that you remembered to bring your sweater because your office was a bit cold that day. You can also write thank you letters to God, the universe, yourself, or whomever else expressing your gratitude for the day you had or the life you live. Gratitude writing has so many benefits, and it can be very helpful to use it as encouragement to continue on your healing journey.