I’ve been feeling down about myself ever since December started and I went back home and the holidays started. First, it was the nutrition that spun out of control, then I forwent the exercise. Later on, my moods started to change and my sleep left me feeling heavy in the morning. I fought with my parents and felt more lost and hopeless. When 2016 started, I knew that I wanted something else in life, something that I was missing. I needed to change, and the first thing I needed to do was be humble.

That was the first step. To be humble with yourself means to recognize little successes and not downplay anything that happens in life–for example, I went from running 60 minutes 2-3 times a week to doing just 10 minutes of pilates in a week during the winter holidays. It was a dramatic change for myself and for my body, and when I did finally pull myself out of the funk, I learnt to humble that my body is able to accomplish so much and not take any of that for granted. There is no “have to”, I realized. I should only live life with the motto, “I want to”. I should be motivated to do things because I’m inspired, not because I’m fearful of consequences.

In February I invested in a Gratitude Journal. Every day, I spend 5 minutes writing:

• 3 Things I’m Grateful For
• 3 things that would make today awesome
• A Daily Affirmation

And every night I write:

• 3 awesome things that happened
• How could I have made today better?

And I’ve been counting my blessings ever since. I notice that I’ve been a lot happier and open lately! For example, at Whole Foods the other day, I asked if I could sample a brand of butter I’ve never tried before. Instead of giving me a sample, they let me try the entire thing for free and bring it home. WHAT? That was totally unexpected and I never had that happen before!

• And the other day, I got 100% on my psychology test–putting me in the best grade by 9% out of everyone else in that class.
• And another thing–I had the best weekend home, nutrition and fitness wise. This is key for me, because when I’m thrown out of my regular routine, I am prone to bingeing more and exercising less.
• And I can’t seem to remember all the other wonderful things that have happened in just 2 weeks, but I am sure noticing a difference.

I’ll take a few photos of my gratitude journal and how I go about making it special, but I wanted to share this with you because you all deserve happiness, you all deserve to attract good things in life.

*I was not compensated to endorse any products, I wrote this on my own will. Affiliate links are included, so please click to support the blog!

a linkup with Amanda, Heather, and Megan

Do you journal? Do you count your blessings?