Day 7: Gratitude for Challenges

Journal prompts to express gratitude for the challenges we encounter

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

It’s Day 7 of the Gratitude Reset series, and as we wrap things up, we’re going to tackle one of the trickier areas: expressing gratitude for challenges. It is often through the challenges that we learn the most about ourselves, and that’s why I think it is important to make them a part of a balanced gratitude practice.

Below you will find the audio track for Day 7 and the transcription of the intro/lead-in to the meditation and journaling. The journal prompts are also listed below, in case you aren’t able to listen. As always though, I recommend listening to help create the full meditative journaling experience.

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Lesson 7: Gratitude for Challenges

Welcome back. This is our seventh session together, and today we will focus on having gratitude for life's challenges, big and small.

We'll explore being thankful for our own weaknesses, life's little setbacks, and the difficult situations and relationships we've encountered.

Often, where gratitude comes into play here is for what we've learned from these experiences. For instance, perhaps a challenging relationship taught you how to set better boundaries, a skill you've carried on with you throughout your life. Life's challenges can ultimately teach us what we truly value and are thankful for.

Today we have four journal prompts that will be focused on past challenging experiences, and then we'll end with a fifth and final prompt to help us apply this gratitude to current or future challenging situations.

Journal Prompts:

• What are some reasons for me to be thankful for my character flaws? How do they help balance me, what do they teach me?

• Looking back, what setbacks have been redirections that I am now grateful for?

• What gifts have come out of challenging moments in my life?

• What have my most difficult relationships taught me?

• Looking now at the challenges I'm currently facing in my life, and to any that may come in the future, how might I begin to plant the seeds of gratitude for what they are teaching me?

What did it feel like for you to express gratitude for these challenges? Do you think this is something that you’ll continue to incorporate in your gratitude practice? Please share your thoughts/reactions!

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.

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With much love & gratitude,

Marcy