Playing with gratitude lists – part one

I’m a firm believer in the power of gratitude lists. I know they’re good for me. I don’t do them as often as I should. I’ve been wondering lately, how can I shake things up and encourage myself to write them more regularly?

So I’m turning my gratitude lists into a game – a treasure hunting game.

The idea is to still write down the things I’m grateful for, but to find a picture that can go with each thing as well. A visual treasure. The picture might be a photo I take on my phone, or one I find in an old album. I might draw something. Or hunt around on Pixabay – a brilliant photography site that’s free to use.

After seven days, I’ll pause and see how I’ve got on. How easy was it to motivate myself each day? How much did I enjoy the game? Did I find things to be grateful for that I might not have recognised otherwise?

I’ll report back here next week.

In the meantime, when I first watched David Steindl-Rast’s TED Talk on the link between gratitude and happiness it really moved me. I’ve watched it many times since. Do take a look: Want to be happy? Be grateful

‘It is not happiness that makes us grateful, it’s gratefulness that makes us happy.’

David Steindl-Rast