Gratitude is the feeling of appreciation. It is an elixir filling the soul. And by definition it is the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation and to return kindness. Thoughts can really transform one’s life.

As many of you, I also sometimes feel overwhelmed and I let the not-so-good moments swarm me into negativity. But being the intelligent creatures that we are, we must look and use the tools that are available for us to overcome everything. And not necessarily overcome but improve the quality of life. Because, friends, living unhappily is wasting precious time. Time is now to make the bad good and make our life completely and undeniably livable.

Gratitude is a great tool that can positively benefit life. It is being scientifically backed up that those who practice gratitude have better overall emotions, experiences, and reflections on life. It can improve mood habits as well as sleep habits. It is a beautiful thing that brightens the day. As you might guess it is not so far from the mind to realize that being thankful is helpful but around 6 years ago there was this couple feeling dissatisfied with how things were and they were looking for ways to fix their emotional state. Long-story-short they came up with the “Five-minute journal”. It is created with leading psychology research with the idea for you to feel higher levels of positive emotion, more joy, optimism and happiness, and with the aim for you to feel less anxiety, loneliness, and isolation.

You might be thinking now but what is it actually? With no more overdue, let me present you the “Five-minute journal”. It is broken up into two sections: a morning routine section and a night routine section. Each morning right after waking up you write down 3 things you are grateful for, 3 things you are looking for in this day and a daily affirmation. Then before bed, you list 3 things that made your day joyful and amazing. It is very simple but with more than 600 000 journals sold people claim how good they are feeling after practicing it. I, personally, started doing it and even modified it in my own way. I am journaling each morning and night on sticky notes and I always have them my room in order to remind myself how many things I am grateful for.

I encourage you to try it out for yourself and see the light that comes into your mind. The gray boring state of mind explodes into colors and motivation. The mind has to be fed and there is nothing healthier for it than positivity.