Stop Right Now, Thank You Very Much
Clara Clorey // September 29, 2011
In the run of a day, it is more than easy for university students to become overwhelmed with course work, participating in extracurricular activities, having a social life and maybe even trying to find a co-op work placement. The continuous battle of prioritizing our lives inevitably leads to unwanted stress; this makes it easy to cast a shadow on our days and forget all the good things we should be thankful for.
This summer, a mentor of mine introduced me to a “positive thinking” technique that really helps put life into perspective. Every day, she would list five things (minimum) in a journal that she was grateful had happened on that particular day… It seemed like a compelling idea to me, but it was only when I started writing my own list that I saw the effects.
I have kept many diaries in my life ranging from the perspective of an angst-ridden teenager (“no one understands me!”) to my latest diaries, which are primarily to-do lists (do laundry, read Women’s Studies, buy loose leaf, call my sister, pick up my cousin from piano, etc). It is interesting to think of what people define as a journal or a diary. Personally, if I were to use a diary as a means of expressing my feelings, it would primarily be a resource to vent frustrations I experience. This really opened me up to the idea of a “gratitude journal” or a log of all the good things happening in my life.
To get started, I picked up a blank sketchbook from a bookstore and put it beside my bed, assuring I wouldn’t forget to write in it every night. For the past 30 days, I’ve been writing a numbered list of five things I’ve been grateful for. I have since been amazed to see how much more aware I am of the pleasant things that happen to me every day. Most days I find it relatively easy to come up with five things I am thankful for (if you don’t consider it cheating how many times I am grateful for food and good meals).
A few examples of things that I have been grateful for this month:
August 17, 2011:
#2. After much pausing and discussion, my best friend and I finally fully understanding the movie Inception
August 31, 2011:
#1. My mom reminding me to take my coffee with me, just as I was about to forget it in the car
September 9, 2011:
#5. Doing a headstand at yoga for 2 Mississippi’s
Just as there are good days, there are also, inevitably, bad days. On those days when it felt like there was literally nothing about that day to be thankful for, I would still write in my journal and say:
September 5, 2011:
#1. I breathed in
#2. I breathed out
Aldous Huxely once said, “Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted”.
We can’t control if things are going to turn out the way we had hoped or anticipated but we can control how we focus our minds and energy. The most important thing I’ve gained from writing in this journal and want to share with others is this: even though our bad days tend to naturally stick out in our minds, when you take the time to write down all the good things, you may find they significantly outweigh the bad. I challenge all of you to stop and consider this possibility.
September 18, 2011:
#1. Having the courage to write an article for Symmetry
