We wanted to share this fantastic set of thoughts from our friends at Connect with Compassion.

“In order to be happy, we must first possess inner contentment, and inner contentment doesn’t come from having all we want, but rather from wanting, appreciating and being grateful for all we have.”

Dalai Lama

Gratitude journaling is a mindful practice. And practice needs repetition. The goal of the exercise is to remember a good event, experience, person, or thing in your life—then enjoy the good emotions that come with it.

Start tonight before you go to sleep. Write down 5 people you are grateful for, and why. (It needs to be in writing for full effect).

Get personal. Focusing on people to whom you are grateful has more of an impact than focusing on things for which you are grateful. Tune in to how this actually feels inside you.

Go for depth over breadth. Elaborating in detail about a particular person or thing for which you’re grateful carries more benefits than a superficial list of many things.

And then keep the practice on repeat.

Write regularly. Whether you write every other day or three times a week, commit to a regular time to journal, then honour that commitment.

It’s a mind-changing practice that actually changes your brain and your body chemistry.

For which, I am very grateful!