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Practicing Gratitude: iPhone apps for fostering gratitude

For what are you most grateful for today? Can you list five things? Sometimes it’s tough to see all of the good things in our life, but with some practice we can get better at it. These three iPhone apps will help you foster gratitude on a daily basis.

My 3 favorite apps for capturing the joy in life

For what are you most grateful for today? Can you list five things? Sometimes it’s tough to see all of the good things in our life, but with some practice we can get better at it. These three iPhone apps will help you foster gratitude on a daily basis.

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”

And I think that’s exactly it. To be grateful for all that we already have, without focusing on all that we don’t yet have, is the key to true and enduring happiness.

We all have things to be grateful for. The trick is to actually see those things. If you can’t see the blessings that surround you, you can’t fully appreciate them.

The ability to see the things around us can be learned and fostered.

And wouldn’t you know, there’s an app for that.

Here are my three favorites:

The Gratitude Journal

The Gratitude Journal is my absolute favorite gratitude app for the iPhone and the one that I use every day.

The Gratitude Journal asks you to identify five things each day for which you are grateful, which has been a great exercise for me.

The developers of this app challenge you to use it every day for a month to see the change in your overall attitude.

I love that you can rate your day and add a photo to your daily entries.

Price: 99 cents

Learn five ways to cultivate an attitude of gratitude >>


Live Happy

A gratitude journal is just one part of Live Happy, an iPhone app that’s designed to help you find more happiness in your life. Live Happy is based on the research and teachings of Sonja Lyubomirsky, positive psychology researcher and author of The How of Happiness.

This app asks you to choose from several different happiness-boosting activities, tells you what to do and why and how your chosen activity promotes happiness.

Price: 99 cents

4 more steps to happiness >>

Thankful For

If you’re looking for a simple, no frills iPhone app for capturing gratitude, Thankful For may be the perfect app for you.

Thankful For is an easy-to-use gratitude journal that allows you to jot down your thoughts and keep them private or share them publicly in a live stream of gratitude.

Need an inspirational quote? Thankful For has a tab for that. The first quote I read was this, from Marcel Proust: “Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls bloom.”

That quote alone makes this app worth downloading.

Price: Free

More helpful iPhone apps

The 7 iPhone apps moms will love
Best apps for the iPhone: Fitness apps
Best apps for the iPhone: Organization apps

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