How this daily practice helps with my mental health.

It’s Thanksgiving here in the United States. I know that at some point in the day most of will think about what we are grateful for this year. I used to never really think about gratitude before. It was a once a year thing and that was it.

Last year, like most, I found myself in a rut. I was working a job in the grocery industry which was insane at the time and I found that the simple act of getting out of bed was difficult. I hated my job. That was all I could focus on. I didn’t want to work because I hated it. Everyday dragged on. I was miserable.

I had a conversation with my therapist and she mentioned starting a gratitude journal. She explained to me how I’d use it to flip around my thoughts towards things that were making me feel miserable.

Okay, yeah that sounds cool

But work sucks so how can I be grateful for that? She then had me list out things that my job allowed me to have. My job allowed me to earn a decent income to enjoy time with my family, it provided health insurance so that we were healthy, it was flexible when I needed time off to be with my daughter.

This simple act of thinking about things that I was grateful for in a situation that was less than ideal changed everything. Whenever I find myself in a rut or before, I’ll sit down and list things that I am grateful for. If I am struggling with one area of my life, I try and flip it around to see what I can be grateful for in the situation.

Happy Thanksgiving ya’ll.

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Seasonal Affective Disorder — or S.A.D. — got me once again.
The Dark Cloud.medium.com

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