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| Jewish Junk Journal for Elul |
Reaping the Benefits of a Gratitude Journal
It might seem like an impossible dream that writing in a journal could be so beneficial. But the scientific evidence is in, and gratitude journals do benefit you in big ways if you keep one for the long term and use it daily.
Jewish gratitude has a Hebrew name - Hakarat Hatov. Here's a two-minute video made for parents to teach their kids about Hakarat Hatov.
It’s so simple, but it's true - You are the one who makes yourself happy with your own choices. Another person cannot make you happy or grateful. Only you can do that.
But something amazing happens when you express gratitude in speaking to other people and in speaking to God. Your relationships simply open up and become better. Those that don’t, you start to recognize for what they are and let them go.
Become Physically Healthier
Being grateful for the ability to move and breathe will eventually cross over into wanting to ensure that you can always do that. Therefore, you’ll be more motivated to go on walks, eat right, stay hydrated, and live in gratitude for every aspect of your life.
Increase Your Mental Dexterity
The ability to take lemons and turn them into sweet, delightful lemonade can be gained by keeping a gratitude journal. The main reason is that you will learn to see and choose the good because you will see it clearly on the page. That requires a good imagination and creativity and thinking on your feet. And it really helps to pray your journaling out loud to God, because then you hear it as well as read it on the page.
Feel Less Aggression in Your Life
It’s hard to feel aggressive if you are happy and grateful. It’s okay to be angry about injustices in the world without being aggressive. But if you feel angry much of the time, it’s really due to not finding enough gratitude. Seeing it and writing it and speaking it out loud helps us experience genuine gratitude.
Act and Become More Empathetic
As you write more and learn to forgive yourself as while filling up your gratitude journal, you will start seeing others differently. You’ll have more ability to put yourself in other peoples' shoes and see things from their perspective without judgment. It happens when you learn to forgive yourself.
Get More Restful Sleep
If you fall asleep each night feeling thankful for everything you’ve experienced (or at least most of it), it’s easier to sleep because you have less anxiety. That's real gratitude, and it's a gift from God.
When you're feeling more rested, less stressed, and more grateful, you’ll have a lot more energy to get things done every day. That’s always going to make you feel even more thankful because good things happen to thankful people.
Feel Better about Yourself
You can’t help but feel better about yourself when you have improved so many good qualities about yourself. Your self-esteem will go up when you express gratitude for what your mind and body can do for you.
If you want to be happier, get more done in life, and experience real joy in life, a gratitude journal can be the way to achieve it. The guiding ideal to remember is that your thoughts cause your feelings, and you are the one in control of the actions you take once you accept your feelings. Accepting that you do have control is half the battle, and your journal will make it clear that you do.
Enhancing your journaling life by creating a Jewish junk journal is fun and effective. It's so much fun you might not be able to stop putting together beautiful cut-outs and drawing or painting on your journal pages.
The vintage look is popular in junk journaling because it brings back happy memories, helping us express gratitude for the past as well as our current life in the present.
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