It is easy to get so consumed with our busy schedules in our day-to-day lives that we forget to take the time to step back recognize what we are grateful for, whether they are simple things or complex. I am 100% guilty of being so focused and not taking enough time out of my days to sit back and say: “I am so grateful that I am here right now, and have been given this life to live.” To express gratitude for everything and anything, and appreciate the small moments in life which make us who we are.

It is very important to remember to be grateful for these things, no matter how small they may seem. These everyday things in our lives, which we sometimes take for granted because it is so normal. Our family, our health, friendships, the ability to have self-expression. It is difficult sometimes to open ourselves up and think about things in a different way. Here are just 30 examples of prompts all based on gratitude which I encourage and challenge you to elaborate on daily for 30 days in a row.

It takes time, and repetitive action to form a habit, so by following the prompts, and by reflecting and writing daily about being grateful, the habit to hopefully form is to be more grateful about our everyday life. A habit to intentionally be more aware, more appreciative, more thankful. The trick is to stick to it for 30 days straight. Write a few sentences, write a few pages- whatever feels right for you. Just be sure to write every day for 30 days!

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30 Days of Gratitude

1. What are the things that you are most grateful for? Make a gratitude list of whatever you are grateful for in your life. Write whatever comes to mind for at least five minutes.

2. What are your favorite parts about every season and why?

3. List five smells you love, and how they make you feel.

4. Why are you thankful for today? List at least ten things.

5. What parts of nature are you most grateful for, and how does it make you feel?

6. List something that you are struggling with, and write some positive things that can come from it, or what you have been able to learn from it.

7. Write about why you are grateful for where you grew up.

8. Write about your parents, or caretakers and why you are thankful for them.

9. List three things you love about yourself and why.

10. Write about your siblings, or close friends and talk about why you are grateful for them.

11. Write a letter to someone in your life you are grateful for and why.

12. Write about the last time you really felt appreciative of something or someone in your life.

13. Where was the last place you traveled to? Write about your trip and the positive things about it, or the things that you learned from it.

14. What part of your day are you most grateful for, and how does it make you feel?

15. What is the time in your life that you are most proud of?

16. Think back to a year ago, and write down the differences in your life then to now, and how have you grown?

17. Write down at least five ways how you can show gratitude towards other people in your life.

18. What makes you feel love for another person?

19. Think about the last time you laughed really hard and write about it.

20. Think of a song that puts you in a good mood, and write about why it makes you feel the way it does.

21. What is your favorite food or recipe? Write about what memory and makes you think about.

22. Think about someone in your life who is very important to you and/or has played an important role in your life. Write about that person, and how they have shaped you into who you are.

23. Write about something in your life that you love doing the most, and why it is important for you to be able to do it

24. What is your favorite emotion to feel and why? What is your least favorite emotion to feel, and name something good that can come out of feeling this emotion. How do these emotions make you grow as a person?

25. Which is your favorite of the five senses, and why is this important to you?

26. Write about someone in your life that you love.

27. Write about your favorite holiday, and what makes it so special.

28. What do you love most about life and why?

29. Describe three of your favorite characteristics about yourself.

30. Write about why it is important to take the time, no matter how much or how little, to write about gratitude over the past 30 days. Write about the positivity it brought you, and how you can apply this awareness into your daily life.

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, thankfulness and being grateful is something that we tend to think more about during this time of year. However, I encourage you to continue this practice as a daily exercise. Challenge yourself to think of different writing prompts, and look for new ways to feel gratitude not only in the month of November but all year long.