The past couple of weeks have been up and down in terms of my mood and energy levels. Looking back over it I can see lots of good things we achieved but it’s all too easy to lose them under the times I felt bad and just stuck a movie on for the kids so I could sit and stew.

I resolved that the way to conquer this was to start a gratitude journal so I could have quick, easy access to all the awesome things we do as a reminder that I’m not a terrible Mum or that we never do anything fun. If I can look back over a day or week and see all the positive points it’s bound to lighten my mood and help me feel grateful for all the good stuff we have and do.

I tried some iPhone apps but none were what I was after so I resolved to start a physical one. In true Em style though this simple project has now grown and turned into the more complicated Project Life scrapbooking system.

I’ve always fancied scrapbooking but don’t have a creative bone in my body. Seeing some of the creations that some people come up with leaves me feeling befuddled, how do they know that cutting that bit of card and layering it on top of these bits of card will result in something so spectacular? Project Life is a set of page protectors that you can slip photos into and little cards that describe what awesome stuff that happened over a week.

In combination with this I’m writing down all good things that happen into one of my many unused notebooks as a memory jog for a week and as a simple gratitude journal. I might even bung a weekly post up with all the stuff I’m grateful for, in case I do, here is the things I’m grateful for so far this week:

• Quiet Time!
• Siblings who are so close
• The smell of rain on warm ground
• A daughter who loves being outside
• Wellies and dresses on Annie
• Ezra’s single top tooth

I try and use photos as a visual gratitude journal but with editing, writing blog posts and sharing photos on so many different social networks the grateful bit can get lost under a layer of ‘work’. I just need to step outside, take a few deep breaths and remember that there’s loads of awesome stuff in my life, I just need to open my eyes and look for it.
Do you use a gratitude journal or Project Life, and has it helped you in any way?