Gratitude Journal Reflection

Pixabay: https://pixabay.com/photos/female-diary-journal-write-865110/

Self-Development Post 3

And now for my final thoughts on keeping this journal! I will preface by saying I was completely thrown for a loop for a bit, so I did miss quite a few days before I got myself situated again, but I definitely still have plenty to talk about.

Last time I mentioned how family and friends showed up several, several times in my entries and I am happy to say that this has remained consistent! Especially towards the end of the semester, I tend to get stressed and my number one method to counter this is complaining (it is very therapeutic and a lot of fun to get overdramatic about your issues with people who are delighted to get overdramatic with you). So, I was consulting my friends very often. I'm always grateful to have an ear at the ready at almost any given time. I've also realized that a friend's willingness to listen to you lose it has nothing to do with how long you've known them - because I find refuge in chats with my best friend of eight years as easily as a new friend who I haven't even known for one! I suppose that's another thing to be grateful for: that I have such dependable friends! But enough of that, since I wrote it down so many times already.

The days where I wrote down how much I appreciate my family had both meaningful but mostly hilarious accounts. I got more comfortable writing as the weeks went on, so it was no longer "I'm grateful for my sister for always helping me out when I need it." Instead, I had "I'm grateful for my sister who dealt with me standing on a ladder and taking pictures from over her head for more than two hours while constantly asking her to rearrange the props in front of her to what must have been her great annoyance."

[Fun Fact: That last one is from yesterday!]
[Less Fun Fact: I'm not going to end up using those pictures in my Photography final]
[Fun Fact Again: This has made today's entry simply my gratitude for the fact that my sister has not killed me for all that time we ended up wasting. That is to say nothing of the mess we made. But I digress]

This series of entries actually ran through Ramadan, so in addition to all my family and friend appreciation, I had several seemingly less significant things to be grateful for. But I was unapologetically grateful nonetheless! For example, I was grateful for a good night's sleep, which became rare as the days went on. I was grateful for deadlines being extended past midnight so that I could nap during the middle of the day in peace. I was grateful for any morning I woke up without a headache. And, most obviously, I was grateful to be able to eat and drink as I pleased once prayer hit. As it should, I was always reminded that this isn't something everyone gets to do, even if they're as hungry and thirsty as I was.

All right. All that said, what are my takeaways on this? Honestly, I don't think they differ much from last time. I am immensely grateful for my family and so, so lucky to have friends who are ready to curse the world with me (in good spirit, of course). The journal has shown me that big things as well as little things are all worthy of gratitude and that sometimes it's the little things that can make your day! I like that I was able to kind of do this project consistently because it really helps me see exactly what serves to make me happy everyday, and I think that's just such a nice thing.