30 Days Of Journaling – Day 2: Gratitude

This is part of my 30 Days of Journaling series — a gentle, 5-minute daily reflection to help you pause and reconnect. Each day can be listened to on its own; you don’t need to follow the series in order. Today, we focus on Gratitude, an enriching practice that encourages you to recognize and appreciate the positive aspects of your life, fostering a deeper sense of joy and contentment.

Transcript

Welcome to 30 days of journaling.

Today is day 2,

So you can listen to this in order or you can just start here.

Everything is fine.

My name is Rianna and today's word is gratitude.

I have to be honest,

Gratitude wasn't always easy for me.

I don't know which season of your life you're currently in,

But I know that in my hard seasons it's very hard for me to grab a pen and paper and write down what I'm grateful for.

But I promised my therapist to write at least one thing every night.

So sometimes it was just my tea was warm today and that was all that I could come up with.

But then other days it was a full love declaration about my husband.

You know,

It didn't fix the problems I was dealing with,

But it slowly softened the edges.

So I want to try that with you today.

So please,

I invite you,

If you can,

Close your eyes and we're going to take a deep breath in and out.

With your eyes closed,

Notice one small thing that you can appreciate right now.

Maybe it's the light in the room.

Or the way your hands are rested in your lap.

The smell of a plant in your room.

Or maybe it's the sound of a bird humming outside.

Now focus on this one thing for a moment.

I'm going to keep breathing and as you inhale,

Imagine that gratitude coming into your body.

And then as you exhale,

Silently say thank you and feel the gratitude move outward.

I'm going to do that one more time.

Inhale the gratitude coming into your body.

And exhale,

Feel the gratitude move outward.

Okay,

Then whenever you feel ready,

You can open your eyes,

Grab your pen and paper and write down three small things from today or yesterday that you're grateful for and write down why they matter to you.

Don't overthink it,

Just write down the first thing that comes up.

It doesn't have to be perfect,

It doesn't have to be profound.

Think about that warm cup of tea of mine.

If you need a little bit more time,

You can hit pause.

I'm going to go on to the second thing that I would love you to write about.

And that is a person that you're thankful for and the impact they've had on you.

Again,

The same.

Pause if you need a bit more time.

And the last one I want you to write a challenge that in hindsight offered you a hidden gift.

What is something that has been very challenging to you,

But now looking back,

You actually see the gift in it.

And if you're in deep grief right now,

I know this can be very challenging to you.

I'm not able to answer,

So if you don't feel comfortable,

Please don't.

Journaling is very personal.

Journaling is for you and your journey.

There's nothing to prove to anybody.

Fact.

Now take a look at what you wrote and circle one word or one sentence that sums up your gratitude right now.

And this is going to be a reminder for today,

For the rest of the evening.

All right,

Take one more deep breath in.

And exhale slowly.

Thank you so much for being here today.

If you like to keep going with gentle,

Simple reflections like this one,

If you go to my Insight Timer profile,

You can find the other 30 days of journaling.

Wishing you a wonderful day.