The Importance of Gratitude, even in a Pandemic!

During the last couple of months, if you’re anything like me, your mind and thoughts have been going into overdrive. A lot of those thoughts, especially at the start, have been negative, stress, worry, fear etc.

I’m such a sponge and with so much negativity all around me I needed to do something to change the way I was thinking, at least as often as I could.

I’ve been making the most of the extra time on the weekends to ensure that I am doing some ‘self-care’. I’m reading positive books, listening to positive podcasts, and have started writing in a gratitude journal every night before bed. I got this idea from The Resilience Project – Finding Happiness through Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness a book by Hugh Van Culenburg which I highly recommend, it’s so uplifting and can be life changing. I’ve not missed a day since I began writing in my gratitude journal almost a month ago and it has been the best thing, I’ve done to protect my mental health during this crazy time.

I like to this before I go to bed each night, a time to pause and reflect and think of what you are thankful for. At the end of the day, even if you think it hasn’t been necessarily productive or amazing, you write down the things that happened during the day that you are grateful for. It’s helped me to be even more thankful for the little things in life, the simple things that really matter, like cuddles with my daughter.

Even if you’ve had a bad or stressful day, I guarantee that if you think a little harder you can at least find three things that you really enjoyed and are grateful for.

What are you doing during these times to ensure you are looking after yourself? We’d love to hear about them!

Ash