Gratitude List: 200+ Things to Be Grateful For

When life gets tough, it’s easy to forget what we have that’s going right. Relationships end, mental health issues rise, or sometimes you lose perspective, but with a gratitude list you have that a-ha moment over and over again to remember that maybe things are bad but they’re not as bad as they could be. We’ve all faced dark hours, where we rapidly lose hope, but with a daily gratitude journal or even a list on a scribbled piece of paper, we can regain our happiness. In this article, we’re going to dive into the gratitude list benefits, what to put in your gratitude journal, and our ultimate gratitude list to give you some ideas to get started.

What is a Gratitude List?

A gratitude list is a compilation of things that you feel grateful for. It’s important to create one each day to remember to look at the positive side of things.

A gratitude list helps people with anxiety, depression, or any struggle in life remember to never lose hope. Things don’t always go as planned in life but even on your darkest days, there’s always something to be grateful for.

Gratitude List Benefits

Why bother with a gratitude list? A gratitude list gives you material to work from with a regular gratitude practice. As you might guess, of the benefits of gratitude, gratitude helps improve mental health and life satisfaction. But here's what a gratitude life offers your life and the benefits it provides.

1. It gives you perspective

Life’s tough. Let’s not sugar coat it. Some moments will completely drain your energy leaving you feeling like you’ve got nothing. But do you really have nothing? Be honest. You know that’s not the case. Your heart can have the biggest hole in it, your anxiety could eat you up inside, but you’ve still got so many great things in your life. The gratitude list doesn’t allow your mind to get completely clouded by a negative event. It helps you remember that you don’t only have challenges in your life, you also have many things to be grateful for.

2. It orients you

By creating a gratitude list, you’ll regularly see what type of things you’re grateful for. People always dream about money or success but when they actually write down the things they’re grateful for money and success rarely come up. By practicing gratitude, you might realize you value different things than you realized. It can help you understand that maybe you actually want a secondary thing than what you think you want. For example, maybe you think you want money but gratitude makes you realize what you really want is a break from all work and no play. And by realizing what you actually want through practicing gratitude you realize the solution might be easier than expected.

3. It gives you hope

When your mental health starts to deteriorate, you start to lose hope. The benefit of a gratitude list is that it can help bring hope back. Maybe you feel like you aren’t safe but you realize you’ve got working arms and legs. So instead you sign-up for a self-defense class. Or maybe someone you love died and the hole in your heart gets bigger each day without them. But you remember that you still have a ton of friends and family that you love just as much who will stand by you. If you hit rock bottom, a gratitude list might help you realize you have what you need to climb back out.

4. It reduces stress

Our minds are powerful. Feed is negativity and sadness and that’s all you’ll ever think about. Think about gratitude and positivity and you’ll feel much happier. Creating a gratitude list helps you focus on the upside to life. We’ll all face challenges and roadblocks but by thinking about things that are still going well for us it helps reduce stress. The stress might not completely go away as some challenges are greater than others. But it’s important to help lower your heart rate, take a few deep breaths and express what you’re grateful for.

5. Your gentle reminder

Creating a gratitude list is a gentle reminder of the things you’ve got going for you. It’s important to not only express gratitude but take advantage of what you have. If you’ve got legs, go for a run. If you’ve got lips, flash that big smile or blow that sweet kiss. If you have a loving family, spend more time with them. If you have amazing friends, schedule time to chat with them. Don’t let whatever is going wrong in your life deter you from experiencing the joys of what you still have.

When to Use a Gratitude List

Part of morning gratitude routine

If you already have an established morning routine, you can have a morning gratitude list that you reflect on, pull ideas from, and look through. This way, reminding yourself of things to be grateful for is easier than forcing yourself when you're not in the mood. It will help invoke more positive emotions in the morning, and get you on to a good start to your day.

When going through a tough time in life

Gratitude is most useful when you're going through a tough time in your life such as when you lose someone or you're going through a change. Feeling grateful is easy when you have a number of things you can reflect on from a gratitude list. It will give you perspective, remind you of the things you may forget about, and allow you to move to a positive mindset.

When writing in a gratitude journal

Sometimes we draw a blank when we're reflecting and writing in a gratitude journal. A gratitude list gives you a large number of things to remind yourself to practice gratitude for and express gratitude towards. Even if you've been reflecting in a journal up until this point, it doesn't hurt to start a new gratitude journal and use your gratitude list to get a fresh start to your writing routine. You can even create multiple gratitude lists based on the time of day, the season of the year, or when you're feeling a certain way.

What to Put in Your Gratitude Journal

Whether you need to create a gratitude list template or trying to figure out what to put in your gratitude journal, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Things You’re Grateful For

Compile a list of things you’re grateful for. Try to think of between 5-10 things each day. Maybe you change the ideas each day or you just quietly sit and express gratitude for the things you still have going well for you. You can steal some gratitude list ideas below or come up with some of your own to make it more personal for you.

2. People You’re Grateful For

Express gratitude for a few of the people you’re grateful for. Think of someone who’s had a positive impact in your life, someone who pushes or challenges you, a stranger who showed kindness, yourself, and the world. Send positive vibes to everyone out there who may be suffering or struggling. But also express gratitude for people who are doing well.

3. Highlight Of Your Day

If you write in your gratitude journal in the evening, think of the highlight of your day. What was the best moment in your day today? By doing this each day, you’ll create a collection of positive memories to look back on. A year from now, you can browse through all your daily highlights and recognize patterns of good days to create more of them. You’ll realize that creating a gratitude list helped you gain and hold onto happy moments longer.

4. Daily Mantra

If you write your gratitude journal in the morning, you might add a daily mantra to repeat throughout the day to help you live mindfully. Focus on one thing you want to improve all day. For example, if you find you’re always angry at work. Your daily mantra might be “May I be peaceful and positive to those around me today.” And when you find yourself at work getting angry, you’ll repeat that mantra and focus on changing your behavior to change the outcome of your interactions.