Gratitude is one of those words that has been frequently used in the last decade as the opposite of constant complaining about our lives and all the bad things happening to us. It’s difficult to give a comprehensive definition of this word. Generally speaking, gratitude is the appreciation of what we’ve been given and the realisation that many things we’ve achieved were not done solely by ourselves.
Here is an example that shows how important gratitude is. You’ve had a tiring day; seven hours of teaching are behind you. In the last class, one student became very restless. He discouraged and distracted the other students and did not respond to warnings until you directly reprimanded him. It took you so long to establish discipline in the classroom that you didn’t cover all the material planned for that period. When you confided in a colleague about the situation, she told you that she probably wouldn’t have reprimanded the student because his parents are very problematic, and now you might find yourself in an even bigger problem.
In the end, the whole scenario is quite grim, and at first glance, it seems like there’s nothing to be grateful for. After a stressful day at work, we are prone to having other things go wrong in our personal lives (e.g., being late for a child’s performance, missing dinner, etc.), and at the end of the day, we just want the nightmare to end as soon as possible. However, if you want to free yourself from stress, you need to look at things from a different perspective and try to find things to be grateful for in such situations. If you think about it more deeply, you can be grateful that you are alive and healthy, that you can work, and especially if you have the opportunity to do the job you were educated for and wanted to do as a child. You can be thankful for the six good lessons you delivered today and for all the knowledge you imparted. You can also be grateful to the troublesome student whom you calmed by following all the rules and for gathering the courage to teach that student a lesson that may help him grow as a person. You can be grateful to your colleague for warning you about potential problems with the student’s parents, so you can prepare and, if a conflict arises, react appropriately. In the end, you can be thankful for your dinner because at least you had enough money to buy a meal and didn’t go hungry. You also made your children happy by ordering that pizza for dinner.
Research has shown that grateful people are more successful, happier, and most importantly, healthier. It’s no wonder that many successful people dedicate time each day to keeping a gratitude journal. It’s not necessary to write things down, but at the end of the day, you can thank God or another higher power you believe in. However, it’s well known that the written word has a greater impact on our mind than merely saying things out loud, so it’s better to write things down. You can use a piece of paper, a special notebook purchased specifically for this purpose, an online journal, or an app on your phone. If you wish, you can also use the form available on our Discord.
Keeping a gratitude journal should help you become happier and more content. When writing a gratitude journal, it’s important to relax and not stress over the number of things you feel grateful for. It’s important to keep the bigger picture in mind. Be thankful for the people around you, for your health, job, home, and food, but also for small, simple things. Writing in a gratitude journal is even more effective if you write down the value of what you are grateful for next to it. Below are a few examples of gratitude:
– I am grateful to my colleague Diana, who helped me carry my heavy bag to the car.
– I am grateful that I can afford a car, which makes my commute to work more enjoyable and faster.
– I am grateful for the strawberries growing in my garden, making my breakfast healthier and tastier.