Practicing Gratitude with Hallmark Cards

* This post is sponsored by Hallmark, but all opinions are my own.

Practicing gratitude daily is something I personally have integrated into my daily routine for the past couple of months. Taking time out of our days to actively practice gratitude is so important for our emotional and mental health. Multiple studies have shown that it allows our mental state to overall be more positive, less stressed and be happier.

The practice of gratitude can be in various forms and for all aspects of your life. It is about noticing and savoring the small, mundane parts of everyday life that we usually overlook, but add up to the big moments that shape our lives. The act of practicing gratitude is tuning into those small moments to take a pause and express our appreciation.

But expressing our gratitude can be hard! Good news is, it can be through a multitude of ways. Think of a time you want to set aside each day to practice gratitude; it only takes one minute. I like to do it best at the end of the day so I can reflect on what happened during the entire day. Think of something small that happened during the day that you liked and then you can choose what you want to do with that information. 

Some people have gratitude journals where they jot down all of their appreciations from day to day. Some create jars to put little gratitude slips into every day. And the best way I love to show my gratitude towards those around me is through card-writing. 

Studies have shown that expressing our gratitude via writing, whether it’s to ourselves or to others in our lives, we are able to be more expressive and the overall experience creates longer lasting positive effect on our brains. Because practicing gratitude is within the minute details of our lives and how those around us contribute to it, there is a ton of autonomy how you can incorporate card writing into your gratitude practice. 

Last week, I picked out special Hallmark cards to say a small thanks to my parents for all they’ve done this past year. The small details of having my life seamlessly together are without fail a result of their efforts. Mundane things like laundry, having food in the fridge, driving me places, refilling the shampoo, staying quiet during my meeting times, and more have been built-in habits for them. But these habits are what keeps my day-to-day working and stress-free. I really took the time to pause and reflect on the integration of our lives have once again forced them to be selfless in their actions to ensure I am the happiest I can be while living back at home. I never said thank you for all the small things they’ve done and it was so refreshing to write it all down in a card for them. As you can see from the photos, they absolutely loved it!

Hallmarks’ abundance of choices made it so fun to pick out the perfect card for each of them. It’s never too late or early to start practicing gratitude, especially towards those around you. I think we oftentimes take our friends and family’s presence for granted, obviously not intentionally, but it’s always nice to show our appreciation for them. We can train our brains to notice the small important things and people that positively impact our lives. Practicing gratitude is to affirm and acknowledge the good. It has also been proven that those who have gratitude expressed to them also had more of an initiative to pass it on. 

I appreciate you for stopping by today and reading this post; grateful for your support. I hope this post can prompt you to pass along a token of gratitude of onwards.

A million and one thanks for reading — until my next lil’ thought then!

xx jen