30 Gratitude Journaling Prompts
Gratitude: a feeling of appreciation and a state of being thankful. You might have heard that practicing gratitude is good to our health and well-being, but what are the actual benefits?
In a study by Emmons & McCullough (2003) it was found that people who engaged in a daily or weekly gratitude practice (like writing things you are grateful for), experienced greater positive affect (happier, more enthusiastic), reported more satisfaction with their lives as a whole (compared to participants who did not engage in this practice), felt more optimism about their upcoming week, and felt more connected with others.
Other benefits that participants reported from practicing gratitude were related overall well-being like spending more time exercising, getting more sleep and having better sleep quality, feeling more optimistic and experiencing less negative feelings. Lastly, researchers also found that people who practiced gratitude felt a sense of connectedness to others were also “more likely to report having helped someone with a personal problem or offered emotional support to another.”
But what if “being grateful” doesn’t feel “right” or genuine right now?
I don’t want to refute the practice of gratitude, in fact, we’ve already discussed that practicing gratitude provides many benefits to our mental and physical health. In sum, being grateful is good for us.
However, there is some nuance to this topic and something that needs to be mentioned is that it can be hard to find things to be grateful for or at least, have an attitude of gratitude. In example, different celebrations or times of the year (like the holiday or winter season) might come with expectations of feeling joyful and grateful. It is important to mention that this season is also known for bringing to the surface feelings of sadness, grief, loneliness and anxiety, among other feelings that may be related to mood changes affected when the seasons change (as it is the case for people who experience seasonal affective disorder).
Sometimes, grief and other overwhelming feelings that come from the ebbs and flows of life might make it hard for us to find things to feel grateful for. It’s ok if you don’t feel grateful right now. You can acknowledge what you’re feeling at the moment and be compassionate with yourself. When it feels right, I encourage you to engage in a gratitude practice later. You might start with keeping a journal and writing down just one thing you’re grateful every night before bed. Later on, you might write three, like Brené Brown, five or even try other ways to incorporate a gratitude practice into your life such as taking a gratitude walk, writing a gratitude letter to someone or complimenting a person in your life for which you feel grateful for with a text message, personally or with a note.
If you are new to the practice of gratitude journaling or if like me, you sometimes don’t know what to write down on your journal, keeping some journal prompts on hand can be really helpful. I also like my Five Minute Journal for a quick journaling + gratitude session for just a few minutes, morning and night. Needless to say, you don’t need a fancy journal to write down your thoughts and in this case, things for which you feel grateful. You can start with a simple notebook like this one or this one, and jot down the answer to the gratitude journaling prompts that I’m sharing with you below.
30 Gratitude Journaling Prompts
1. Write down one thing you are grateful for today.
2. List 5 to 10 people in your life you are grateful for.
3. Write about why you are grateful for those 5 to 10 people listed above.
4. What is an experience you’ve had in your life that you are grateful for and why?
5. Ponder and write about a difficult decision you are grateful to have made in your life.
6. What is something you’re grateful to have learned so far?
7. Think and write about a memory you cherish and are grateful for having.
8. What is one place you are grateful to have visited?
9. What is a boundary you are grateful to have set to protect your mental health?
10. What is something, a job, an activity you are grateful you are not doing any longer?
11. What is something a friend or acquaintance has given you and are very grateful to have received it?
12. What is a time in your life you’re grateful to have experienced?
13. What is something you’ve done for someone that they’ve told you they are grateful for you to have done?
14. What is a quality or characteristic of yours you are grateful for?
15. Write about goals you are grateful to have achieved.
16. “Gratitude”— write down what first comes to mind when you read/hear this word.
17. What is a tool, an item you own you’re grateful to have in your life? Why?
18. What is a service, community, class, book, podcast you’re grateful for and that has made your life better?
19. Make a list of songs you are grateful to know.
20. Make a list of songs about gratitude.
21. Write down a list of books you’re grateful to have read.
22. Make a list of 5 things you’re grateful to own.
23. What is something you’re grateful to have happened to you over the last few months?
24. Write down 10 things you’re grateful to see or be surrounded by at this moment.
25. Reflect about the greatest lesson you are grateful to have learned so far.
26. Write a letter to your past self and write about the things, decisions, steps you’re grateful they (you!) have taken.
27. What are 1 or 2 events you’re grateful to have on your calendar for the coming weeks?
28. List 5 things you’re grateful to look forward to every day.
29. Write a gratitude note to someone who is supportive in your life.
30. What is something you’re grateful to have found that makes your life and mental health better?
You can download a PDF of these gratitude journaling prompts here.
Have you found this helpful? Send me a message and let me know ♡