Free Gratitude Journal Printable + 13 Thanksgiving Printables

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Want to feel happier? Check out this free gratitude journal printable to help you stay focused on what you’re thankful for all year long, not just thanksgiving!

Hi Crafty Friends! It’s the second Thursday of the month and you know what that means– It’s #TotallyFreePrintables Thursday! Yay! This month our theme is Thanksgiving. If you live in Canada (like me) then I know what you are thinking “Ummmm wasn’t Thanksgiving last weekend?” Yes my friend, Canadian Thanksgiving is indeed in the first half of October, but our friends down south won’t be celebrating until next month. I’m hoping all of my Canadian friends will pin this to refer back to next year. I also decided to make my printable one that could be used all year long– it’s a free gratitude journal printable!

Table of Contents

What Is A Gratitude Journal?

Pink journal on a desk with scissors, pencils and other office supplies

Some of you may be asking “What Is A Gratitude Journal?”

In simplest terms, a gratitude journal is a journal where you write down and keep track of all the things that you are grateful for.

There are a multitude of ways that you can keep a gratitude journal:

Write things you are thankful for along with the date on strips of paper. Put them in a jar and whenever you need a pick me, up pull a few strips of paper out of the jar and review them.
Find a journal that speaks to you and record the things you are grateful for in the pages.
Purchase a journal that is specifically made for expressing gratitude. My family got into the practice of tracking the things we are grateful for when my daughter received a gratitude journal for Christmas
Print out your own gratitude journal (like my free version) and put it in a pretty binder.
If you are the type of person who keeps planners you can even add a section for your gratitude journal in your daily planner!

Why Is A Gratitude Journal Important?

Hand lettered image that says Start Each Day With A Grateful Heart

Keeping a gratitude journal is fantastic for both your physical and mental health. Studies show that expressing gratitude can increase your long term happiness by 10%, decrease depression by 30% and lower blood pressure by 10%!

Studies also show that people who express gratitude are also known to sleep better and experience less aches and pains.

A study in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology showed that people who express practice gratitude have higher self esteem and are less likely to compare themselves to others.

More and more studies are being done on the effects of practicing gratitude all the time that show what a positive practice it is to add to your self care routine. Keeping a gratitude journal helps you focus on and be lifted by all the positive things in your life, when it’s so easy to get dragged down by negative things.

What To Put In A Gratitude Journal

Woman's hand writing in a journal with a blue pen.

One of my favorite things about keeping a gratitude journal is that they can be quite simple which is really nice if you are brand new to journaling.

In my experience it is best to focus on 1 to 3 things that you are thankful for from your day.

Some gratitude journal pointers:

Be as specific as possible. Instead of writing “I am thankful for my family”, which would be the same from day to day and become quite repetitive, write something more specific and in depth. An example would be “I am thankful that my mom took the time to text me today to check in on how I was feeling about the kids going back to school this month.”
I also like to think of the good things in my life as gifts or blessings.For example I’m thankful for the gift of you, my readers, and count it as a blessing each time one of you takes the time to send me an email, tag me in a post, or comment on one of my blog posts. It’s quite amazing how quickly those gifts can add up.
Don’t be afraid to examine the “bad things” and try to find the good that came from it. For example, I went for a period of almost 2 years without seeing my extended family because of Covid. At times this can feel devastating. However when I look closer at that “bad thing” I’m able to find good things within it. I can see that I’m so lucky that my extended family is healthy and safe. This time apart has also made me realize that I’ll never take time with them for granted again and make myself fully present when I’m in their presence. It also makes me so grateful for technology that allows me to still see their faces through apps like Facetime, even when we are apart. See how I did that? I took one “bad thing” and was able to turn it into 3 good things!
No matter what you put in your gratitude journal, I highly suggest making it a regular habit and part of your daily self care routine. I love doing it at the same time each day before I go to bed along with my positive affirmations. I’m the kind of person that needs to do things at the same time each day so it becomes part of your daily routine otherwise I stop doing them. I find at the end of the day before I go to bed is a great time to write in a gratitude journal. I’m able to fill it out without distractions. It also helps you to go to sleep at night focusing on all the positives in your life, which usually ends up leading to a better night’s sleep.

Free Gratitude Journal Printable

My free gratitude journal printable has two different options. One is a daily gratitude journal that has you share three things you are grateful for, a doodle of something that made you happy, things that you like about yourself (this is also a great place to write new self affirmations for yourself each day) and something that you are looking forward to.

The second option is a page a week option which gives you a section for each day of the week to share something you are grateful for each day. It also has a box to write something that you are looking forward to in the upcoming weeks.

I hope that by incorporating this printable journal and prompts into your own life that you will be filled with positive emotions, happiness and that it will make a significant positive emotional impact on your mental health! Having a positive mindset has been so important for me when trying to deal with depression and SAD and I know that expressing my gratefulness has helped me through so many difficult circumstances.

Want to grab it?!?!?

Want to grab this free printable? Enter your name and email address into the box below and we’ll send it straight to your email! Signing up for one of our free printables subscribes you to our enewsletter where we send you a ton of free stuff. Don’t worry if you’ve already signed up once, you’ll only be subscribed once per email address.

Please remember this printable is for personal use only.

This file can be used in part or in whole for your personal projects.
Digital reselling, sharing, redistributing of the files is NOT allowed. If you would like to share, please direct friends to the original blog post where you found this printable file