Why I Started Carrying a Mini Notebook

Baby Step Gratitude Notebook

Why?

Have you ever thought of something to do with your phone only to be distracted by all the notifications and next thing you know it's been hours of scrolling through reels or TikTok? Cause same!

We are living in a world that is so technologically advanced that sometimes we get distracted by everything that is accessible. I feel like I have ADHD every time I grab my phone. Sometimes I want to write a grocery list on my notes app so I go on the app and write down about 2-3 items on my list and I now want to scroll on Pinterest to find meal ideas. So I'm scrolling on Pinterest for recipes to try and next thing I know I'm scrolling on Amazon for new appliances on sale. It keeps going on and on and by the time I realize it's several minutes to hours later and I've completely forgotten what I was supposed to be doing.

Sometimes I just want my brain to slow down. Sometimes I NEED my brain to slow down.

That's when I decided to carry a mini notebook in my fanny pack and I gave it a name I called it my baby Step Gratitude notebook.

Now What?

Now we write!

Write what?

What you're grateful about....

"Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy" - Guillaume Appolinaire

Honestly, use the mini notebook for whatever you like but I decided to turn into a gratitude notebook because it helps slow my brain down and helps with mindfulness.

My goal when I started the Baby Step Gratitude notebook is to write down any inspiration, quote that I like, or Bible verse(s) that stood out to me that day. If it was a bad day and I can't find any inspiration anywhere, I write down what I liked about that day no matter how small the thing may seem. It can be the taste of my coffee was good or I saw a cute puppy or I got to breathe on my 15 minute break at work or the shape of clouds were pretty that day. It can be whatever but the goal is to write at least one thing a day.

I was surprised that there were days I could not think of ANYTHING. And then I noticed how much I don't realize that my brain is in a "half-empty" state. I can probably list a full page paper on what went wrong that day or what I disliked about my day but it becomes challenging when I try to do the opposite. But as I continued to challenge myself everyday to write something something I liked about that day it became easier and easier. And I like how portable and accessible my notebook is for when I want to write something down.

So why is it called the Baby Step Gratitude notebook?

Because on that day when I've filled the notebook, I get to look back on all I have written and be reminded of those tiny steps each day I took to get to where I am. The taste of coffee that I liked or the cute puppy I saw or the 15 break that I got or the shape of the clouds I like are everything that helped keep my mind positive and encourage me to continue on to my current destination. In today's trend it is called "romanticizing life" but it has always been an act of mindfulness. And I choose to document it by writing it all down on my mini notebook that I call Baby Step Gratitude notebook. 😊

I hope you find value and inspiration in this blogpost.

If you give this a try, please let me know and also share ways you use your mini notebook. I'd love to know. :)

Happy writing!

🧡Sincerely, Balie