Here is a fun little gratitude practice that you can do with a friend, a sibling, a parent, or anyone else who is willing. I used to do this with my mom when I was living far away from home. Some days felt hard, but this exercise usually managed to at least shift my perspective a little bit. Credit for coming up with this practice goes to mom.

Every day you send each other a text message or email answering the following three prompts:

1) What is one good thing you have experienced today?

2) What is one good thing you have done today?

3) What is one good thing you are looking forward to?

Doing this might not solve any problems, but at least it can feel like a colorful, glittery bandaid with ponies, princesses, or cute monsters on it. Additionally, if you can find someone to do this with, it can help you feel less alone and it can also help you get to know someone else a little bit better.

Other ways of practicing gratitude can be filling an entire journal page in the mornings (or evenings) with what you are grateful for. Or making a list of three things, or ten, or anything in between. I recently learnt about the Five Minute Journal, which is a lot of fun. It offers three lines per day for gratitude in the most recent version.

Or you can introduce gratitude to the dinner or breakfast table. Each family member (or maybe roommate) shares one thing that they are grateful for. I’m sure it won’t just stop at one.

And finally, sometimes I feel like the word gratitude can feel a little heavy. On those days I like to use the word appreciation. I think it was Eckhart Tolle from whom I first heard this alternate option. I think sometimes it’s easier to just appreciate what’s around us. A flower, the night sky, a fresh breeze.

Let us know how you practice gratitude and if it has helped you by sending over an email to [email protected].