“…But if you count the favors of Allah, never will you be able to number them…” (Holy Quran 14:34)
There is a 1-minute daily activity that will increase your joy insha’Allah. This activity is: keeping a “Blessings Journal”.
All you need is a notebook and a pen. Once a day, write down 5 blessings of Allah (swt) in your life. A blessing is anything that makes you feel happy and thankful. When you write these blessings, feel the gratitude for them.
For example, today in my Blessings Journal I wrote down the following:
1. Educational Youtube videos
2. Elevators
3. Multigrain bread with butter
4. Cozmo’s (a new supermarket here that makes my life easier)
5. My relatively easy life compared to the lives of others
You can write down absolutely anything that you feel is a blessing from Allah, such as your eyesight, Islam, your children, etc.
This activity will help you to pay attention more to the uncountable blessings in your life, throughout your day. You will focus more on the positive than the negative in your life, insha’Allah.
It only takes 1 minute to write these 5 blessings, but if you do it daily, you will become a more thankful person, insha’Allah.
Also, you will be pleasing to Allah because He is pleased by gratitude in His servants:
“If you are thankless, Allah is in no need of you–yet He is not pleased by ingratitude of His worshipers. And if you are thankful, He is pleased by it in you.” (Holy Quran 39:7)
Here is a lovely Youtube video about being grateful. Even though it is for children, as an adult I found it soothing and uplifting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCelHUKAQbA