What Are You Thankful For?
According to the amazingly wonderful people at Soul Pancake, those of us who are the happiest in life are the ones who say thank you the most and show the most gratitude. As I just prepared myself to sit down and write tonight, I realized something. As a lover of writing, an English teacher, and a positive person, my favorite word has always been serendipity - making fortunate discoveries by accident. It's a beautiful word, it has a charming look to it, and it's most certainly fun to say. However, I just decided that serendipity is now tied with my second favorite word and I suddenly have two favorite words.
Gratitude. There are many different definitions, all touching on the same idea but lining their words up in different poetic ways. For example, "an emotion expressing appreciation for what one has," "thankfulness, gratefulness, or appreciation, feeling or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive," or simply, "the ability to express thankfulness." With Thanksgiving around the corner, the media around us, including commercials and ads, has immediately skipped over the important lesson of giving thanks and only seems to focus on Black Friday deals, already! The world has forgotten about the importance of slowing down every once in a while to express our gratitude.
Gratitude is a vocabulary word in my classroom and one that I use very often. Last week in class, the 9th grade team showed our students the TED talk the 3 A's of Awesome (attitude, awareness, and authenticity) and had them recognize that in dire situations, it actually does boost our overall mood to focus on the little things that we consider awesome. We should all be thankful that the light turns green just as we are approaching, or peeling the thin plastic film off of brand new electronics. These things are simply awesome! It takes practice to recognize these, but just as with a positive attitude, practice becomes habit.
I've seen and heard of a few people taking the month of November as a time to focus on one thing each day to be thankful for. A girl I knew from college who lost her fight with cancer wrote a blog and said that she wrote down 3 things every day that she was grateful for. I encourage my students to make an ongoing list of things that they think are awesome in their notebooks. This, for the time being, allows us as humans to divert our attention from what we don't have, or our energy from our exhaustion, or simply our negative mind, and allows us to focus on something positive, something we feel blessed and lucky to have. The more we do this, the easier it becomes, and the happier we are.
Today, I am thankful for a warm home to enter after a long day of work. This home contains a roof over my head, a bed to rest in, heat to keep me warm, and love to keep me keeping on. I am forever grateful for my house, today and every day.
Now, I challenge you. Will you keep a gratitude journal? Will you write your 3 things on small pieces of paper and place them in a mason jar like I do? Will you post your gratefulness on social media? Whatever you do, challenge yourself. Choose at least one thing daily that you are thankful for. Share it, own it, be proud of it, and most importantly, practice it and live by it. Maintain that attitude of gratitude.
And tell me...what is it that you are thankful for??
Gratitude. There are many different definitions, all touching on the same idea but lining their words up in different poetic ways. For example, "an emotion expressing appreciation for what one has," "thankfulness, gratefulness, or appreciation, feeling or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive," or simply, "the ability to express thankfulness." With Thanksgiving around the corner, the media around us, including commercials and ads, has immediately skipped over the important lesson of giving thanks and only seems to focus on Black Friday deals, already! The world has forgotten about the importance of slowing down every once in a while to express our gratitude.
Gratitude is a vocabulary word in my classroom and one that I use very often. Last week in class, the 9th grade team showed our students the TED talk the 3 A's of Awesome (attitude, awareness, and authenticity) and had them recognize that in dire situations, it actually does boost our overall mood to focus on the little things that we consider awesome. We should all be thankful that the light turns green just as we are approaching, or peeling the thin plastic film off of brand new electronics. These things are simply awesome! It takes practice to recognize these, but just as with a positive attitude, practice becomes habit.
I've seen and heard of a few people taking the month of November as a time to focus on one thing each day to be thankful for. A girl I knew from college who lost her fight with cancer wrote a blog and said that she wrote down 3 things every day that she was grateful for. I encourage my students to make an ongoing list of things that they think are awesome in their notebooks. This, for the time being, allows us as humans to divert our attention from what we don't have, or our energy from our exhaustion, or simply our negative mind, and allows us to focus on something positive, something we feel blessed and lucky to have. The more we do this, the easier it becomes, and the happier we are.
Today, I am thankful for a warm home to enter after a long day of work. This home contains a roof over my head, a bed to rest in, heat to keep me warm, and love to keep me keeping on. I am forever grateful for my house, today and every day.
Now, I challenge you. Will you keep a gratitude journal? Will you write your 3 things on small pieces of paper and place them in a mason jar like I do? Will you post your gratefulness on social media? Whatever you do, challenge yourself. Choose at least one thing daily that you are thankful for. Share it, own it, be proud of it, and most importantly, practice it and live by it. Maintain that attitude of gratitude.
And tell me...what is it that you are thankful for??
I am thankful for my umbrella on a rainy day!
ReplyDelete"People inspire you, or they drain you — pick them wisely"-I'm thankful that I have you to inspire me and to be my friend each and every day!
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