Have you ever had a GRATITUDE JOURNAL? They are a great place to write down all the things you appreciate in your life helping you understand the many BLESSINGS we sometimes overlook. It shifts our thinking from negative to positive so instead of seeing what we don’t have, we see all the amazing, wonderful things we do have in our life.
Gratitude journals are a wonderful way to start or end your day.
Unfortunately, it didn’t always work for me.
You see, when you are DEPRESSED and have LOW SELF-ESTEEM, a gratitude journal turns into a GUILT JOURNAL.
It becomes a place to write down all the things you should be feeling grateful for but aren’t!
- You feel GUILTY you have health while others are ill.
- You feel GUILTY for having food or shelter when others have to walk 10 miles just to find water.
- You feel GUILTY for being thin when others struggle with their weight.
- You feel GUILTY for anything good in your life because you don’t feel happy and you know you should be.
- You feel GUILTY for any kindness bestowed on you because YOU DON’T FEEL WORTHY.
In this case, guilt is a terrible, horrible, awful emotion.
If you feel GUILTY for the BLESSINGS in your life, I want you to LISTEN to me very carefully.
GUILT feeds your DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, LOW SELF-ESTEEM, LOW SELF-WORTH and inner NEGATIVE VOICE.
GUILT feeds the BELIEF SYSTEM that you don’t deserve a HAPPY, JOYFUL and ABUNDANT life.
GUILT feeds the belief that somehow you don’t deserve EASE in your life. You must struggle or pay for your good fortune.
GUILT pushes you down and keeps you there.
GUILT never allows you to feel GOOD about yourSELF and what you’ve accomplished because you are always comparing your BLESSINGS to the hardships of others.
What is the purpose of that? NOTHING!
The only good purpose for feeling guilty is when you’ve done something wrong like lied to your spouse or committed a crime. Or perhaps you feel guilty when you behaved in a way that wasn’t authentic to you. Guilt serves the purpose of honouring your conscience and informing you to do something about it: apologize, own up, do the right thing. In that case, guilt has a good reason for being there. It is productive.
Please be aware of what type of guilt you are experiencing. If you are feeling guilty for having blessings in your life, that is your negative voice keeping you down. It is a way to feed depression, anxiety and low self-worth.
If you are experiencing guilt because you have done something that is against your morals or integrity, then it’s helping you to do the right thing. Listen and then take action.
Expressing GRATITUDE is beautiful; please don’t paint it with the ugly colors of guilt.
With a smile,
Tina
PS. Thank you for sharing my blogs and letting people know about my book. I make no money from my blog so passing it on is a way of paying it forward. Thank you!
Another excellent post. Winner.
Thanks Peggy! I love hearing from you! <3