Day 1: Your Relationship with Gratitude

Welcome to Day 1 of the Gratitude Reset

Photo by Gabrielle Henderson on Unsplash

Welcome to the first day of our Gratitude Reset journaling practice! Thank you so much for being a part of this exploration.

Below you will find the audio files for the course introduction and Day 1. Day 1 is all about exploring your relationship with gratitude.

I’ve included a transcript of the intro and the introduction to Day 1. The journal prompts are also listed below.

Share with me how you are feeling after working with these prompts. And as a reminder, if you complete all 8 days of this course before the end of the year, I will gift you a free month to the Soul Journaling Sessions paid subscription.

To show you completed each day, you can:

• Leave a comment on that day’s post with your reflections

• OR restack the post on Notes on Substack, and share your insights

I look forward to moving through this Gratitude Reset with you!

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Give Thanks: Explore Gratitude Through Journaling - Course Intro

Gratitude practices, and specifically gratitude journals, have become increasingly popular in recent years. It seems every author, coach, teacher or guide recommends having a gratitude practice because there are so many benefits to it. When we take time to acknowledge what we are grateful for and what we do have, rather than focusing so much on what we don't have or what we want, our overall energy and approach to our day becomes much lighter and more positive.

So why is it that some of us find a consistent gratitude practice challenging to hold onto—or perhaps even difficult to start? For some, it might not feel genuine or natural. And for others, it is too easy to get caught up again in day-to-day life, focused on the things we're still trying to achieve rather than on what we have.

Hi, I'm Marcy Farrey, and in this journaling course, we'll be exploring the many layers gratitude.

I am one of those people who has always been a little skeptical of gratitude practices. They always felt a little too fluffy and overly positive to me, a practice that was a lot easier to talk about than to do in real, daily life. I admit, it became one of those things that I said, who really has the time for that?

So I wanted to create a gratitude journaling course that wasn't filled with just your typical "Today I'm grateful for" prompts. This course is about exploring your relationship with gratitude and about really getting to know what gratitude is for YOU, as a human being managing your day-to-day life.

• On Day 1, we'll explore our personal relationships with gratitude.

• On Days 2 and 3, we'll explore common blocks to expressing gratitude.

• On Day 4, we'll express gratitude for others in our lives.

• On Day 5, we'll express gratitude for ourselves.

• On Day 6, we'll express gratitude for our life experiences.

• On Day 7, we'll express gratitude for challenges.

• And on Day 8, we'll bring it all together and explore what our personal gratitude practices could look like going forward.

Each day we will have 3-5 journal prompts, and I will give you two minutes each to free write whatever comes to mind. I keep these journaling times short not just to help you fit them into your day, but also so you are less likely to overthink and can just write whatever comes to mind.

Perfect grammar and complete sentences are not required here. You are encouraged to let your thoughts flow however they'd like—even if that means only writing one word or doodling or drawing instead of writing. This is your self-inquiry practice and you can engage in it in whatever way feels best or most aligned with where you are in the moment.

I hope you will join me for this journaling journey.

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Lesson 1: Your Relationship With Gratitude

Welcome to our first day of journaling together. To start, today we'll simply explore our individual relationships with gratitude. This includes exploring what you learned about gratitude as a child, which informs your long-held beliefs about gratitude. We'll also explore what gratitude looks like for you now in your life, including when you like or do not like to express gratitude and how you express it.

Journal Prompts:

• Growing up, what was I taught as far as when and how to express gratitude?

• Does what I've been taught about gratitude still resonate with me as an adult?

• When is it challenging for me to express gratitude, or when does it feel inauthentic to express it?

• What leads me to express genuine gratitude, and how do I naturally express it?

What did you learn about the roots of your relationship with gratitude? Share what these prompts brought up for you.

And remember, there is a special gift for anyone who completes all 8 days of this course by the end of the year: a free month of the paid subscription to the Soul Journaling Sessions. All you have to do is leave your reflections below or restack this post to Notes with your reflections or insights.

With much love & gratitude,

Marcy