Gratitude In Recovery
Practising gratitude involves noticing and appreciating the things around us — even the really little things.
When I talk about gratitude with friends or clients and suggest beginning by simply noticing three things they are grateful for each day, I’m sometimes met with the response, “But I don’t have three things to be grateful for.” I once felt the exact same way.
These days, before I even get out of bed, I can usually find three. I’m grateful that I have somewhere safe to sleep, that I’ve woken up to another day, and that there are still things in my life to look forward to.
But I wasn’t always like that.
When I was living with an eating disorder, so much of my attention was caught up in my own head and in everything that felt wrong. I wasn't present enough to notice the little things around me — the warmth of the sun on my skin, sitting peacefully in the park, enjoying a coffee, or simply noticing the world carrying on around me.
Gratitude hasn't taught me to ignore what's difficult or pretend everything is positive. It's taught me that the difficult things don't have to be the only things I notice.
🌸 There can be a hard day and birds singing outside.
🌸 There can be uncertainty and a moment of peace.
🌸 There can be struggle and something that makes me smile.
For me, that's what practising gratitude has become: noticing those little moments and allowing them to matter.
And over time, I've found that doing that helps me feel happier, more hopeful and more connected to the world around me.
What Gratitude Has Given Me
When I first started practising gratitude, I wasn't thinking about the benefits. I was simply trying to find a way to notice more of the good things that were happening around me.
Over time, though, I began to realise that something was changing.
The difficult things were still there, but they weren't taking up quite so much space. I was noticing more of the moments that made me smile, feeling more connected to the people and world around me, and finding more things to look forward to. Some of the things gratitude has helped me to do are:
None of this happened overnight. Gratitude became something I practised — and, somewhere along the way, it became something I naturally began to carry with me.
If someone had told me ten years ago that gratitude would become such an important part of my life, I probably wouldn't have believed them.
These days, I still have times when I intentionally sit down and think about the things I'm grateful for, but I also find myself noticing them throughout the day without really trying.
🌸 A beautiful sky.
🌸 A message from a friend.
🌸 Something that makes me laugh.
🌸 A quiet moment in the park.
Gratitude has become less about making a list and more about the way I've learned to notice my life.
Finding Your Own Way to Practice Gratitude
There are so many ways to practise gratitude, and I've learned that the best practice is simply the one that feels right for you.
I personally love writing things down — lists and journalling have become a big part of my own gratitude practice — but gratitude doesn't have to happen on the pages of a journal. Sometimes it's simply about creating a little pause in your day and noticing something you might otherwise have missed.
Some ideas you might choose to try are:
💜 Create a Gratitude Jar. Write down little moments, memories or things you're grateful for and collect them in a jar. Then, when you have a challenging day, you can reach in and maybe rediscover something you might have forgotten.
🪨 Find a Gratitude Stone. Choose a pebble or stone that catches your attention and keep it somewhere you'll see or touch it. Let it become a little reminder to pause and notice something you're grateful for in that moment.
🌿 Take a Gratitude Walk. There's nowhere special you need to go. Simply walk with the intention of noticing what's around you — something beautiful, something that makes you smile, or perhaps something you've walked past a hundred times without really noticing it.
📖 Keep a Gratitude Journal. Write a list, answer a prompt, fill a whole page or simply write one sentence. There really isn't a right way to keep a gratitude journal — which is exactly why I've created the companions below for you to explore.
You don't need to become a “grateful person” or commit to doing this every day.
Start wherever you are. Notice one thing. Write down one moment. Take a walk and pay attention to what catches your eye.
And if writing feels like a good place to begin, I've created two different Gratitude Companions below. They offer different ways of exploring gratitude, so you can choose the one that feels most like you — or spend some time with both.
There is nothing to complete perfectly here. Just another gentle invitation to notice your life.
