There’s a reason why some gratitude practices can feel routine and hollow, while others can be life-enhancing and transformative.

Every day, I’m conscious of gratitude, and especially at night before I go to sleep, when I write three sentences about what I’m grateful for that day.

I could write in my gratitude journal:

“Today I’m grateful for breakfast.”

Or, I could include specific gratitude details:

“Today, I am grateful for breakfast – one whole, ripe green and yellow avocado, five slices of smoked salmon with lemon and fresh dill, four cherry tomatoes from the farmers’ market, green and black Greek olives, coffee with hot milk, while reading Architectural Digest magazine (AD) – sitting outside in the garden under a large grey umbrella.

For me, specific gratitude details are more profound, exciting, and less mundane, evoking stronger emotions of appreciation, thanks, and affection, as well as the lingering, pleasurable effects of gratitude I experience.

Thoughtful gratitude descriptions encourage me to slow down and honestly notice the components of my experience, cultivating mindfulness and a deeper appreciation for value.

It also promotes abundance in ordinary moments, training my brain to be curious, accurate, and to notice richness where I might otherwise miss details that matter to me.

The details become small celebration stories of awareness and joy, turning simple experiences into treasured memories. This process is what researchers call “gratitude resonance,” where the positive emotions from gratitude continue to influence our mood and perspective well beyond the moment of writing itself. Three days after this lovely breakfast, when I might be rushed and stressed, I’ll remember the calm and empowering feelings I had at that breakfast, and it’ll help me work through rough moments.

What difference do you think specific gratitude details make as compared to a simple sentence of meaningful gratitude?

What happens when you practice shallow, surface-level gratitude versus deep gratitude over months or years?

Thanks – Michael (he, him)

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