75 Journal Prompts to Help You Practice the Attitude of Gratitude

Feeling grateful can have a powerful effect on your life. According to recent studies, grateful people are healthier, happier, and can even live longer. 

In this article, we’ll explore how to cultivate gratitude and how to reap its benefits. I'll provide over 75 gratitude journal prompts and scatter in inspiring and fun gratitude quotes with graphics. 

Get ready to unlock a new level of fulfillment in your life by learning to express and practice gratitude.

Why and How to Journal About Gratitude 

Having a regular practice of gratitude can increase your happiness. Research shows that taking the time to notice what you are grateful for benefits both mental and physical health.

Research also shows that the impact of keeping a general gratitude journal diminishes after several weeks. I think it's because it becomes repetitive if you don't have some prompts to help you focus on different things you are grateful for. So -- I created journal prompts to help stimulate your thoughts about what you are grateful for and help you mix it up so you can keep the positive benefits coming.

This article includes some of the gratitude prompts that I post regularly on social media for #ThankfulThursday. 

How to Define Gratitude

My favorite definition of gratitude is a broad one that appreciates that you can be thankful not only for externally sourced things that someone else does for you or that happen to you, but also for things sourced in you: things you do, things you have, and things that you are. 

This is how gratitude researchers Doctors Randy and Lori Sansone define gratitude:

"Gratitude is the appreciation of what is valuable and meaningful to oneself; it is a general state of thankfulness and/or appreciation."

  

The Benefits of Gratitude

An attitude of gratitude helps us get more out of the life we have.

Gratitude researcher, Robert Emmons, Ph. D, explains it this way:

Gratitude Journaling -- What You Are Grateful For and Why 

Many things speed by us daily without really being noticed. Taking time to think about and note what you are grateful or thankful for helps you savor the good in your life and boosts your feel-good feelings. Thinking about why you appreciate the person, place, thing . . . helps you take the positive impact up a notch. It can also lead to some personal insights. 

All my prompts have a basic what and why fill-in-the-blanks formula. Simply fill in the blanks to get in touch with what you are thankful for and why you are thankful for it/them. 

An example of a gratitude journal prompt:

You might have one gratitude sentence for each prompt or many. There might be more than one because for your sentence(s).

75 + Gratitude Journal Prompts (and some inspiring and fun Gratitude Quotes with Graphics)

You can journal using these prompts or just use them to think about your gratitude.

Just in case you skipped over the explanation in the previous section: The "because" blank in each of the prompts is for why you are grateful for the person, place, thing . . . that you mentioned to fill the first blank of each prompt.

For example: I am grateful for the opportunity to live in the Pacific Northwest because it is so beautiful. 

Thinking about why you feel grateful for or about something/someone can help your savor the feel-good and take your positive thoughts and feelings to the next level. 

1. I am grateful for ______________ because __________.

2. I am grateful for the opportunity to ______________ because __________.

3. I am grateful that I visited ____________ because __________.

4. I am grateful for _______ because it made me laugh and I appreciate that because __________.

5. I am grateful that I am good at ____________ because __________.

6. I am grateful that I get to do ______________ because __________.

7. I am grateful for the _____________ part of my job because __________.

8. I am grateful for ______________ because they made a positive impact on my life. That positive impact is ___________.

9. I am grateful that I am _____________ because ____________.

10. I am grateful for the modern invention ______________ because __________.

11. I am grateful for __________________ act of kindness shown me because __________.

12. I am grateful that I learned _____________ because __________.

13. I am grateful for reading _________________ because _________.

14. I am grateful for _________________ (that I usually take for granted) because _________.

15. I am grateful that I get to go to _________________ because _________.

16. I am grateful for days when the weather is _________________ because _________.

17. I am grateful for _____________ in my home because ____________.

18. I am grateful that _________________ happened today because _________.

19. I am grateful that I accomplished _________________ today because _________.

20. I am grateful for _____________ because it makes my life easier by ___________.

21. I am grateful for the website ____________ because ______________.

22. I am grateful that I let go of _____________ because ____________.

23. I am grateful that I have _____________ to look forward to because ____________.

24. I am grateful that I have access to ___________ because ___________.

25. I am grateful for _____________ because I use it every day, and I appreciate that because __________.

26. I am grateful for _____________ at my job because ____________.

27. I am grateful for __________ that I wear because ___________.

28. I am grateful that I accomplished _____________ in the past year because ____________.

29. I am grateful for _____________ because it helps me relax when __________.

30. I am grateful for the song ___________because ___________.

31. I am grateful for my recent small success of __________ because ___________.

32. I am grateful for _____________ because it cheers me up when I’m down by __________.

33. I am grateful for _____________ because it helps me deal with stress by ___________.

34. I am grateful for _____________ because they make my life better by ____________.

35. I am grateful for _____________ because it helps me be healthy by ___________.

36. I am grateful for _____________ because it inspires me and helps me to ____________.

37. I am grateful for _____________ because it helped me learn a difficult lesson of _______________.

38. I am grateful that I accomplished _____________ this week because ____________.

39. I am grateful for _____________ holiday because ____________.

40. I am grateful that _____________ happened this week because ____________.

41. I am grateful for the quote _____________ because ____________.

42. I am grateful that I finally got _____________ done because ____________.

43. I am grateful that I can help _____________ with ___________ because ____________.

44. I am grateful that ___________ helped me with ___________ because ____________.

45. I am grateful that I have _____________ personality trait because ____________.

46. I am grateful for my _____________ physical feature because ____________.

47. I am grateful for my talent at _____________ because ____________.

48. I am grateful for _____________ in this room because ____________.

49. I am grateful that I learned how to _____________ because ____________.

50. I am grateful that I am good at _____________ because ____________.

51. I am grateful that I changed _____________ in the past year because ____________.

52. I am grateful for the challenge of _____________ because ____________.

53. I am grateful that I live in _____________ because ____________.

54. I am grateful that I got to see _____________ because ____________.

55. I am grateful that _____________ has the quality of ____________because ____________.

56. I am grateful that I learned _____________ this week because ____________.

57. I am grateful for the opportunity to spend time __________ because __________.

58. I am grateful that I got to do __________ as a child because __________.

59. I am grateful that I do __________ every day because __________.

60. I am grateful that __________ is in my life because __________.

61. I am grateful for learning __________ from my job because __________.

62. I am grateful that I have __________ even though many people in the world don’t, and I am grateful for it because __________.

63. I am grateful that my body is __________ because __________.

64. I am grateful that I have the habit of__________ because __________.

65. I am grateful that I am __________ because _________.

66. I am grateful that I was brave enough to __________ because _________.

67. I am grateful that I now have __________ that I didn’t have 5 years ago because _________.

68. I am grateful that I value __________ because _________.

70. I am grateful that I get to do __________ this week because _________.

71. I am grateful for my friend __________ because _________.

72. I am grateful for my family member __________ because _________.

73. I am grateful for __________ hobby because _________.

74. I am grateful that __________ is easy for me even though other people may find it difficult because _________.

75. I am grateful that I accomplished__________ in my life because _________.

76. I am grateful for the gift __________ that ___________ gave me because _________.

77. I am grateful for the __________ season of the year because _________.

78. I am grateful that I met __________ because _________.

Gratitude Research

Emmons, Robert. Why Gratitude Is Good. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_gratitude_is_good  

Sansone, R. A., & Sansone, L. A. Gratitude and well being: the benefits of appreciation. Psychiatry (Edgmont (Pa. : Township)), 7(11), 18–22.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3010965/

Wood, A. M., Froh, J. J., & Geraghty, A. W. (2010). Gratitude and well-being: A review and theoretical integration. Clinical Psychology Review,30(7), 890-905. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2010.03.005 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20451313

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