I Wrote ‘What I Was Grateful For’ Every Day For A Month

Each passing day the pages got fuller, and so did my heart.

Dr Saniya Aamir

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With the cloud of negativity that has surrounded us these days, most of us are trying every day to swim towards the light, fighting for a chance to get a breath of fresh air.

Positivity, in such hard times, can be difficult to attain — it can only be achieved through true effort, consistency, and not giving up.

The past few weeks have been particularly difficult for me. Unable to be amused by anything, I had become a negative person. I had lost my spark.

Spark is an inherent personality trait and we all have. For some it is hope, for some it is gratitude and for some, it is their motivation.

I knew I could not go on like this and started a gratitude journal where I would write what I am thankful for each day for at least a week, but ended up continuing it for a month.

The first day was particularly hard since I was in such a negative headspace I could not think of a single thing I am thankful for — so I just started with:

‘ I am thankful I am alive.’

Leaving the entire page blank after writing this one-liner, I closed the journal and decided to try the next day.

The next day, before opening my journal I had given myself the assignment to look around me and analyze everything I had — everything that made me happy. I was able to write 5 things that day instead of the 1 I wrote the day before.

Each passing day my pages got fuller, and so did my heart.

This is how it happened:

I Felt Complete

Negative emotions can sometimes make you feel so empty, that you are constantly trying to fill up that hole with external things.

Looking at those who have more than you is easy, counting the things that they have and you don’t is easy, unnecessary shopping and hoarding stuff is easy — however, none of that makes you feel complete.

The gratitude journal constantly reminded me of everything I have, every day. And before I knew, the emptiness that I had felt for so long started to shrink…

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Dr Saniya Aamir

Just a dentist trying to make dental care more accessible… one article at a time