The emotional rollercoaster of moving abroad is sometimes difficult to control. In the tumult of all the changes it becomes a challenge to stay our happy, outgoing, adventurous, positive-selves. If you have been having difficulty lately keeping up an optimistic attitude, starting a gratitude journal provides the perfect easy-to-start solution.

Every day is a day of thanksgiving

In the midst of my depression abroad, feeling resentful like I never had, I started to write a gratitude journal. Since I love writing, focusing on the positive things in my new life by expressing them on “paper” seemed to be an obvious starting point. It turned out to be a great tool to overcome the negative feelings of resentment, frustration and unhappiness.

Write to Develop an Attitude of Gratitude

It was August 11, 2011 when I realized I had to do something about my situation. I was sitting at home most of the time, trying to study some Spanish while not feeling much for social contact. When you have entered this vicious circle of unhealthy negative emotions, it´s definitely a sign that something is wrong and you should change it. I decided to start writing.

Every day I forced myself to think of something positive that had happened that day. It pushed me to go out, explore my neighborhood and interact with people – because otherwise I wouldn´t have anything to write about. Instead of feeling like a victim I became proactive.

When I put my mind to it I was actually able to see a lot of beautiful things. Daily sunshine, great food, friendly people. My new life wasn´t completely unpromising; I made it feel like this myself. If I wanted this new life to be a success, I needed to change my attitude, because the culture wouldn´t, obviously.

Gratitude Journaling is like Photography
You train yourself to see the beautiful things around you

After a while writing down what I was thankful for it started to feel like writing therapy. My thinking patterns came to the surface but I only allowed the positive stuff pass to the screen. I was practicing an attitude of gratitude which slowly but steadily developed into an overall more positive mindset. It let me experience the power of choosing my attitude toward my circumstances.

Benefits of Gratitude Journaling for Now & the Future

I truly believe that a successful life abroad depends on the right mindset. It´s totally normal to feel overwhelmed and shocked for a while, but you need to find back the positive spirit you had at the beginning of this adventure. The deeper purpose of gratitude journaling is to stay positive and find happiness in your new world. Journaling will help you establish this attitude now and in the future:

The beauty of thankful feelings is that they are simply not compatible with their negative counterparts. It is impossible to feel gratitude and for example stress, anger or disappointment at the same time. Try it. It won´t work. As a result, expressing gratitude has an instant positive effect.

Moreover, research shows that grateful people are happy. In The How of Happiness psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky shows that practicing gratitude and positive thinking are key activities for lasting happiness and well-being.

Naturally, when you´re working on getting rid of resentment, being truly happy feels way out of reach. Eventually, however, you´ll notice that resentment slowly disappears and shades into the process of letting gratefulness dominate your state of mind.

It’s not happy people who are thankful
It’s thankful people who are happy

#3 Great Tips to Start Your Gratitude Journal

Does this all sound too rosy to you? I also didn´t expect to get these amazing results of simple writing. I recommend you give it a chance so you can see for yourself. When you google “gratitude journaling” you´ll find various websites with tips to get started. I would like to add three more suggestions:

Tip #1

Don´t simply “count your blessings”. Gratitude journaling has to make you believe that your new life isn´t without hope. Being in a good state of health and having lovable family and friends aren´t new things to be thankful for. I want you to focus on what´s new and good, because that´s what gets overshadowed by negative emotions.

Tip #2

Elaborate why you are thankful for something. So no bullet lists but short stories and anecdotes including the reasons why you are thankful and the feelings that make you feel good. Expressing why you are grateful allows you to really explore your feelings.

Tip #3

Cultivate what you are thankful for. The great thing of journaling is that it provides you the possibility to reread what you´ve written. When you start to forget the things you were thankful for, grab your journal and inspire yourself. Repeat the activities you liked in the past and spend time with the people who give you joy. You are discovering which factors lead to sustainable happiness.

The Ebb and Flow of Emotion

It´s difficult to stay positive in the early days of culture shock and homesickness, but also after we have beaten the deepest point of depression we feel occasionally down or discouraged. When I feel blue now I pull out the gratitude journal again and I celebrate how far I have come.

The simple concept of writing a few words of gratitude every day became powerful. It helped to restore my enjoyable self and beyond. It really did its job of healing emotional pain to move forward.

Have you tried gratitude journaling?