Thank you. These two words are just one way to express gratitude. People smile, laugh, and show acts of kindness to show gratitude. Often we are told to be more grateful; not to take things for granted. As busy, stressed college students we know logically that we have a lot to be grateful for. How we express our gratitude and the frequency by which we express it is not always as often as we might like. Our lives revolve around club meetings, sports, classes, assignments, and finals. Making gratitude a priority can become just another thing that falls at the bottom of our list of 1000 things to get done in a day.
I want to encourage you and reflect on ways in which we can show (not just tell) our gratitude. Being a student at Colby College gives us a very unique opportunity. Our education is aimed at teaching not only academic knowledge, but daily life skills. Gratitude is one of those skills that I feel we sometimes fall short on. And it is a skill that enriches both our experiences now and in our future.
At this time I have an assignment for you and myself. Find a scrap piece of paper or sticky note on your computer to write out 10 things you are genuinely grateful for. As you write each thing down, try not to rush the process. Think intently on each thing you right down and reflect on why you chose to be grateful for it. Are you smiling yet? You should be. Do you feel just a little happier inside? You may already after your acknowledgement of gratitude. Once you are done with your ten things find a place to keep this list. Maybe you leave it in a journal or Word Document. And each day add ten more things.
This simple but fulfilling experience will give you a renewed life perspective. When things get hard or stressful, take a quick glance at the list. Say for example you are feeling homesick or missing someone you have not seen in a long time. This sad or upset feeling is a cue to check out that list. And maybe that list says you are grateful that you have a caring dean or academic advisor. Knowing that you have a support system may be just what you need to make the struggles of being a college student just a little more manageable. The fact that you have taken the time to reflect on that will lower your stress levels, I pinky promise!
So far I have done a lot of talking about how to be more grateful, but have not explicitly showed you what I do personally to integrate gratitude into my everyday life. I personally find that keeping a grateful journal where I keep all of the things I am grateful for together works for me best. Each morning or sometimes at night, depending on my alarm clock, I sit down and write all the things I am grateful for that day.
Today some of things I am grateful for include: my education, the fact that I have friends who care and love me, my study space for writing my thesis, my mentor in the first generation to college program, my bed, the food I have access to each day, the technology that allows me to be a published writer, cats, LOUDNESS, the peace I feel in my room each day, and my improving health.
And with that I will leave you with a smile and a thank you for reading my article.
