Photo of sun rising over water near rocky beach. — Embrace yourself & the world around you with these gratitude prompts.

Grateful journaling

Let’s explore what it means to be grateful (and even what it means to be ungrateful) together. These gratitude prompts will help you recall grateful moments and memories and reflect on what you’re grateful for and how it feels to experience gratitude. These gratitude prompts are also designed to help you explore messages you’ve received about gratitude since childhood and delve into how those messages might be impacting how you experience gratitude today. Grab your journal, and let’s get started!

Gratitude prompts

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What are you grateful to have experienced in the last year?
Did you experience gratitude today? What are you grateful for about today?
When you were a child, did the adults in your life express or exhibit gratitude? If yes, what kinds of things were the adults in your life particularly likely to express or exhibit gratitude about? How did they express or exhibit gratitude (in other words, how did you know they were feeling grateful)? How have these childhood experiences influenced the way you express and experience gratitude today?
What is something that feels kind of silly to be grateful for, but that you’re still grateful for? Why are you grateful for this? Why does it feel a little silly to be grateful for this?
Write a list of 5 simple things you’re grateful for. Write a few sentences about why you are grateful for these things. Did you notice any similarities between the things on your list?
What memory are you the most grateful for? Describe this memory in your journal. Why are you particularly grateful for this memory?
What aspect of the natural world are you most grateful for? Why?
What are you grateful to know? How did you learn this? Why is this something you’re grateful you know?
When you are feeling grateful, what physical sensations are associated with this feeling?
Are there other emotions that tend to arise as well when you’re feeling grateful? If so, what other emotions tend to arise when you’re feeling grateful? Why do you think these emotions arise with the feeling of gratefulness?
When you are feeling grateful what thoughts tend to arise with the feeling? When you’re feeling grateful, what kinds of things do you commonly say to yourself about the experience? What stories do you tell yourself about gratitude or the feeling of gratefulness?
What book are you most grateful to have read? Why are you particularly grateful for this book?
Write a list of the 5 people you feel closest to right now. For each person, write down a few reasons why you’re grateful to have them in your life.
What piece of music or song are you particularly grateful for? Why are you grateful for this music?
When you are feeling ungrateful, what physical sensations do you experience with the emotion?
Are there other emotions that tend to arise as well when you’re feeling ungrateful? If so, what other emotions tend to arise when you’re feeling ungrateful? Why do you think these emotions arise when you feel ungrateful?
When you are feeling ungrateful what thoughts tend to arise in your mind with the feeling? When you’re feeling ungrateful, what kinds of things do you commonly say to yourself about the experience? What stories do you tell yourself about feeling ungrateful?
What’s something you are grateful to have learned in the past year? Why are you grateful that you learned this?
What movie or TV show are you grateful you watched? Why are you grateful to have watched this?
What is a belonging that you’re particularly grateful for? Why are you grateful for this belonging?
What’s something that seemed bad at the time, but you’re now grateful for? Why did you come to feel grateful about this over time?
What is a time period in your life that you’re particularly grateful for? Why is this time period something you’re grateful for?

What’s one thing about where you live that you’re grateful for? Write about why you’re grateful for this.

What messages about gratitude and ungratefulness do you get from the culture and sub-culture you live in? What messages about gratitude and ungratefulness do you get from close friends and significant others? How do these messages impact you? What about these messages do you think is accurate? What about these messages do you think is inaccurate?
What food are you grateful for? Why are you grateful for this food?
Think about a time you were surprised that you were feeling grateful about something. Write down everything you remember about the experience. What made you realize that you were unexpectedly feeling grateful? Why did you not expect to feel grateful? Why do you think you felt grateful about this experience?
What’s one thing about your body that you’re grateful for? Write about why you’re grateful for this.
What’s one place you’re grateful exists? Write about why you’re grateful for this.
What’s something you’ve lost that you’re still grateful to have had?
What time of day are you most grateful for? Why?
Reflecting on what you’ve wrote in response to these gratitude prompts, do you see any themes in what you’re grateful for?
What’s the most important thing you learned about gratitude and how you experience gratitude from this journaling exercise?

Photos for this article were created with Adobe Firefly.