Life can be overwhelming. To do lists, work, laundry, kids, pets, relationships… It’s easy to get wrapped up in all of the things we have to manage in any given day. However, if we are always stuck in this cycle of to do lists, we lose sight of the beauty happening in the present moment. I find that on my most overwhelming days, practicing gratitude can help shift the narrative and get me out of a funk. 

My husband and I have cultivated a gratitude practice over the last several years. We started by writing in The Five Minute Journal on a daily basis. Then after a while we memorized the prompts and started practicing them on walks, drives, or via text. 

I hope these prompts help shift the narrative of your day by giving the microphone to the things you are grateful for instead of the things you are overwhelmed by: 

Morning Prompts: 

1. What are three things you’re grateful for?

2. What are three things that would make today great?

3. What is your intention for the day?

Evening Prompts: 

1. What are three good things that happened today?

2. What’s one thing that could have made today even better?

(Prompts adapted from The Five Minute Journal)