🌟 The Golden List: A Simple Gratitude Practice I Learned From a Movie
Recently, I watched The Ultimate Life, and one idea from it really stuck with me: the Golden List.
In the movie, the Golden List is a list of 10 things you are genuinely grateful for. Not goals. Not things you hope will happen someday. Just things that already exist in your life — big or small — that matter to you.
- Ground you when your thoughts feel overwhelming
- Gently shift focus away from what’s missing or going wrong
- Help your nervous system calm down (gratitude and stress don’t multitask well)
- Remind you that your life holds value even on hard days
- Create moments of emotional warmth without forcing positivity
Your list can include anything — people, pets, memories, tiny comforts, inside jokes, routines, or even survival itself. There are no rules except honesty.
✍️ Want to Try It?
If you feel up to it, here’s the practice:
Write down 10 things you’re grateful for right now.
They don’t have to be deep or impressive.
“Warm blankets,” “my dog’s weird little noises,” or “making it through today” absolutely count.
🤍 Optional Share (Only If You’re Comfortable)
If you’d like, you’re invited to share some or all of your Golden List in the comments.
- Share just one item
- Share the whole list
- Or simply say you did the exercise
There’s no pressure to be vulnerable, detailed, or polished. This is a gentle space.
💬 Question to reflect on:
@Remina
I love this 💚
What I wrote down, that surprised me the most was, I'm happy for me, happy with who I am and the kind of person that I wish to be 😊💚
@Amanda84
I love that for you!
@Remina
Replying so I can return to this, i can see that this might really help me, i might cheat a little and not make it to 10. thinking cap on....
@RunningMachine I do hope it helps!
@Remina
After revisiting this my list remains a works in progress, but top of the list is that I am alive and still breathing, I was resuscitated twice in the ambulance en route to A&E when I had my first pulmonary embolism in 2015.
@RunningMachine
Hey! Thank you for coming back to the post. That is definitely a thing to be grateful for. Paramedics are doing great work, saving people in the most emergent time of their lives. I am glad you are with us.
@Remina
My list is growing, a friend in the coffee shop was shocked to realise how old I am tomorrow, claimed I look 10 years younger, just added that to my list 😁😁😁
@RunningMachine
I love that! Always great to be told we look YOUNG! Wooo!
@Remina What a beautifully gentle reminder!! 💖💖💖 Love this honestly, I wrote the list, and it helped me to look and notice all those little beautiful things and initiatives which I cherish much even the sunsets and always grateful 💛💛💛 Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful idea. 😊 Felt grounding and happy 🤍 I have decided to make one golden gratitude jar for the golden lists. So, each day I can or even weekly I can put the lists in it and after a month or when having a flat day I can open and explore for bunch of smiles 😊💖
@KindleMissie you are welcome? I am glad you did the exercise! A jar sounds amazing! Once it is full you will have to share it with us!
@Remina ofcourse, I am so excitedly looking forward to this 😊😄💖 Opening of the jar 💖
@KindleMissie I am excited tooooo! You’ll have to add glitter.
@Remina Thank you! 💖💖💖 Oh yupp. tons of glitter ✨✨✨ Ready to shine 💛😁
Woooo! @kindlemissie ð¥°
@Remina 💛💛💛
@Remina
Thank you so much for sharing! I love the idea of golden lists, and I try my best to practice gratitude when things are tough. I have a lot to be thankful for, but it seems to always be the same things when I'm stressed. It's a great idea to remember the little things we appreciate, too. My list included clean drinking water and my down comforter cloud. 😊
@TovaCares76
What is down comforter cloud? :O
@Remina
It's what I call my down comforter 🤭 It's a king size heavy-weight down comforter that when all smashed up on my bed looks like a huge cloud. It is the love of my life. I could write poems and love songs about it, and I wish it could travel everywhere with me. They are a pain in the butt to take care of, which was news to me until I actually got one! But I can never go back.
@TovaCares76
That sounds really nice!
-My dogs
-My father
-My family
-That i'm still alive
-Drawing
-Music
-Games
-My house
-Mangos
-Coffee
@raspberrySpring9449
Thank you for taking part and sharing your golden list! Dogs are such amazing creatures. What kind of dogs do you have? I have a lab that is right now eating crumbs under the table by my feet lol
I have a not so big 'belgian Malinois Shepherd lookalike' that's very playful and lovely (: and also little white dog (like, the size of a chihuahua haha) that's full of energy XD
One was rescued and the other was adopted by my uncle and they live together now ♡
@raspberrySpring9449
Aww they sound SO cute. I love dogs! Rescues are great! How old are these puppers? The lab I mentioned earlier is 11 years old and her name is Lady. She loves people so much, super friendly lab.
Hehe she sounds cute, mine are five years old and the little one has two to three years I think (:
@raspberrySpring9449
Thanks!
Awww. They are young puppers! Do either of them like to play fetch or with the squeaky toys? When my other dog was younger she LOVED all things squeaky. Like I would be trying to sleep and in the middle of night, suddenly i'd hear squeak squeakkk squeak. lol.
Heh sounds funny, nah mine like more to play with ball toys or whichever thing that moves (like plastic containers which get in danger whenever my dogs are around them 😅)
@raspberrySpring9449
Oh my goodness, not the plastic containers. 😂 That reminds me of my lab when I was growing up as a kid. She LOVED empty milk jugs. I would make sure to save them just for her! You should have seen her, she would run back and forth in the yard, it was better than any toy we could have bought her at the store. lol
@Remina
I'm not sure I could come up with 10 things.
@courageouspanda2006
Hi Panda. Coming up with ten things can sometimes be hard. That is okay, you don't have to start with ten off the bat. What about just one or two?
@Remina
I'm grateful for my children, although I only see them every two weeks. That's if they don't work or have practice.
@courageouspanda2006
That is a good one! I am glad that you are able to see your children, even if it is not as often as you would like! Do your children have phones?
@Remina beautiful pist , mindful 💖
@Remina
Im grateful for everything i had, & i have, Alhamdulillah..
So it's comes more thn 10, they are infinite..
I believe whatever comes to us , must be something good for us in it.
If we have something Nice, we have something to Gratitude and be grateful,
And if we have something not nice, or hard times, or something we don't like, we have chance in those challenges of life to be strong, be potential, be hopeful, be courteous, and be courged, and learn lessons and be wise .
@Takhleeya
That is a great way to look at it!