Gratitude

The arrival of holiday cards has slowed to a trickle, and our days are once again measured in alarm tones and school bells. The house has settled back into mid-day stillness. It’s January–time to take those new resolutions from dinner table talk to daily practice.

My 2018 promises were about doing: learn Japanese! Organize photos into albums! Start a small business! Well, one out of three ain’t bad, and 2018 turned out to be one of the most challenging but rewarding years of my professional life. I don’t think I’ve experienced a year in my career with more twists, turns, tears, and surprises since my first year of teaching back in 2001, and I’m pleased to know that I can be as adaptable now (with three kids! and a puppy!) as I was back then.

While 2018 was a gratifying year of learning for me (unfortunately not Japanese), I hope to focus 2019 into a year of reflection and well-being. As I wrote in my last post Intentions, I resolve to consider each morning, each meeting, each interaction and experience as a chance to choose who I want to be. I want my accomplishments to be the results of well-articulated, meangingful goals, and not simply items on a checklist to be crossed off and tossed aside. I want to remember each day to be a human being, and not simply a human doing.

To that end, I dedicate this year to gratitude. This article by UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center offers evidence-based tips for keeping a gratitude journal to increase daily well-being. The article is brief and helpful, but I offer a few highlights here that were especially meaningful to me:

* Write for only 10-15 minutes a day, 1-3 times a week (too much and it becomes a chore instead of a pleasure).

* Be specific and add details–this will make your experiences more memorable.

* “Be grateful for the negative outcomes you avoided, escaped, prevented, or turned into something positive—try not to take that good fortune for granted.”¹

* Write about the people and experiences that surprised you. Surprises can often be more meaningful than favorites. 

Recording gratitude isn’t just for adults–it’s also a meaningful activity for kids to do individually or for families to do together. So I challenge myself (and you!) to commit to the valuable practice of gratitude in the new year ahead.

¹ Greater Good Science Center. “A Simple Weekly Mindfulness Practice: Keep a Gratitude Journal.” Mindful, Foundation for a Mindful Society, 23 March 2016, http://www.mindful.org/a-simple-weekly-mindfulness-practice-keep-a-gratitude-journal/.