Gratitude

Around thanksgiving many of us believe that we should be grateful for everything in our lives, but many of us don’t know that it actually helps us be happy! Scientists are finding that an attitude of gratitude is a powerful contributor to a happy life.  Some believe that it may be the single most effective way to increase happiness.  According to Dr. Robert Emmons, a leading gratitude researcher and author of the book thanks, the idea of receiving a gift is central to the concept of gratitude.  While merely appreciating something for its positive qualities does have a positive impact on our lives and emotions, gratitude takes the next step beyond.  Gratitude happens when we go beyond just appreciating something to acknowledging that we have received a gift that we did nothing to earn or deserve.  The warm emotional rush we feel when we really feel gratitude is very like the glow we feel from realizing we are unconditionally loved. 

New research shows that practicing gratitude may be the fastest single pathway to happiness, health, long life, and prosperity.  In a study Dr. Emmons people who kept a gratitude journal for just 3 weeks measured 25% higher on life satisfaction afterwards.  They exercised more, drank alcohol less, and their families and friends noticed that they were nicer to be around.  And the effects lasted for several months beyond the initial 3 week study.  Other studies are confirming these results.  Peo0ple who take the time to notice and appreciate the good things that come their way through grace, or luck, or the goodness of others are happier and more peaceful.  They do better on cognitive tests and tests of problem solving skills.  They practice healthier habits, have better relationships, are more optimistic and live longer.  Gratitude is one powerful emotion and can be used to turn our lives around in a time of need!

Don’t sweat the small stuff – Spend a moment every day thinking of someone to thank. Gratitude and inner peach go hand in hand.  The more genuinely grateful I feel for the gift of my life, the more peaceful I feel.  Gratitude, then, is worthy of a little practice.  Learned a long time ago it’s easy to allow my mind to slip into various forms of negativity.  First thing that leaves is sense of gratitude.  Begin to take people in my life for granted and love feel is often replaced with frustration and resentment.  As I think of one person to feel gratitude for soon another pops in my head along with other things to feel grateful for.

Often overlooked blessings…The kindness of strangers

Expressions of unconditional love and support.

Times when your ideas “clicked” with others

Reading a passage in a book or a poem that expresses exactly how you feel

First morsel of comfort food

 Reading a book that changes your life

Sense of relief throwing stuff out brings

Rediscovering old family photos

 Finding the perfect gift for someone

An unexpected compliment that makes your day

The simple abundance journal of gratitude…

All of these things when expressed and noticed can make our lives better.

Thankgiving

When thanksgiving comes around a lot of us just think that it is time of holiday and a time where we can stuff ourselves with food. Thanksgiving is a little more than that though. It is a time for us to really give thanks and really think about all of the blessing in our lives. There are a lot of things we are thankful for that we take for granite every single day of our lives. Of course we always think of being thankful for our families, friends, electronics, education, and many other things but it is the less common things that we are thankful for that we should really try to focus on.

          Every single thing that is good in our lives is something we should be thankful for. Things like roads, ovens, school (even though we don’t always like it, it still helps us) keyboards, computers, pictures, shelter, and people that work hard everyday to make our lives possible. There are so many things that we really should be more thankful for.

          When I went to EFY this summer we learned that we are truly happier when we express what we are thankful for. The person who told this story was paralyzed from the waist down and had trouble just moving his arms and hands. He was still grateful for so many things even though there are things in his life that he could be so sad about and just sulk on. This man was very inspirational and I hope that all of us can find the good in our lives even when everything seams to be horrible.

          Statistics show that when we are grateful for everything around us, we are happier as a person. A famous quote says “consistently expressing sincere and heartfelt gratitude for what you already have is the underlying and often overlooked force which opens doors to immeasurable abundance and happiness” I find this quote very true. When we look around us for the good, we are happy and are more likely to have good in our own lives.

          My great aunt recently got back from a service mission from Madagascar, which is a small place right off of Africa. She was in shock when she got back of how much we had here. We had clean water, food, shelter, a warm place to sleep, a bed, and many other things. She said that down in Madagascar, they had nothing, yet they were still very happy people. They could never have just a leisure day, for the second they wake up until the second they go to bed they are on a search for fresh water and food to eat. Many of the children have to find food for there whole entire family. It is very sad how they live and how they survive. We have so much here and we don’t even realize it. It is amazing to know that they have pretty much nothing, yet they are still so happy. We have so much and sometimes we are still not happy. This just goes to show how money does not bring happiness. We will be happy when we are happy with all we have.

11.11.11

Have you ever looked at the clock when it said eleven: eleven and made a wish? I am sure that many of people celebrated 11/11/11 but everyone celebrated in a different way. Many people probably did something special for 11:11 11/11/11, but a lot of people celebrated it the whole entire day. I would fall into the category that celebrated it from 11:11 am, to 11:11 at pm.  That first thing that we did was make a list of eleven things that we wanted to do on this special day. Our list included the following:

1.       Eleven jumping jacks at 11:11

2.       Eleven pictures of eleven people

3.       Kiss eleven friends on the check

4.       Eleven cookies to eleven strangers (one to each stranger)

5.       Eleven prank calls

6.       Eleven laps around the house(in the snow with bare feet and no coat)

7.       Make an elven ingredient meal

8.       Eleven minute soccer game

9.       Try eleven ice cream flavors

10.   Eleven laps in a pool

11.   Order eleven donuts

We did every one of these things on Friday.  The very first one was accomplished at exactly 11:11 am. Everyone got up and went to the hall by Mrs. Corry’s room and Mr. Thompsons room at did them together, except for me, I just stood up in computer tech and did them right in the middle of class! I must admit, it was a little embarrassing.  All the rest of them were spread out through the rest of the day, we didn’t really do them in order.

A couple of them we even ran out of time for. The eleven ingredient meal ended up just being little Cesar’s pizza that we found eleven ingredients in. We were counting things like tomatoes, milk, seasoning, pepperonis and many other things until we had exactly eleven ingredients. We still counted this one as checked off anyways though.

                The other one that we had a little trouble with was number six, considering that all the snow had melted. We really had to improvise. We just had to pretend that there was snow on the ground, and we had to pretend that we were really cold. It didn’t work out so well but we had to get it checked off somehow!

                Many people believe that if you make a wish on 11:11 then it will come true. I once heard a quote that said “dear eyelashes, wishbones, dandelions, pennies, shooting starts, 11:11 and birthday candles do your job.” I really liked this quote because many people do believe that eleven: eleven is really the best time to make a wish. This only works when you just happen to look at the clock at this time, not if you are always waiting for it.

                If so many people make wishes at 11:11, it would make sense that on 11.11.11 at 11:11 that you could make a really big wish. I think this is the main reason that this day was such a big deal. Another reason why

My Pet Peeve

Some of the things that bug me the most happen here at our school. Not in the halls or during lunch but when you are sitting in your own seat. The chairs with the seats that are hooked to the desk and have the basket underneath are the worst! There are so many ways that people can bug you with these types of chairs. The first way is when they set their feet on the basket underneath you and then start bouncing their leg up and down. The second way is as they are bouncing their foot they start to beat there pencil on their desk to make a rhythm. The third thing is when you try to answer a question and they are still bouncing their foot on your desk and then you voice sounds weird from all the vibrations.

            When I sit down in class I always am worried about who sits behind me because if the wrong person does then you bounce the whole class period. What I mean by bounce is that they put their foot underneath your desk on the basket and then start to bounce their foot up and down. When they first start doing this you usually just turn around and look at them, then they usually get the message. It usually starts up again and I get really bugged. Sometimes they start making a rhythm with their pencil while they keep bouncing your desk.

            Some people think that if they can make this cool sounding rhythm with their pencil that it makes them cool or something. It actually is cool at first but then it gets really annoying, and on top of that, they are still bouncing your desk! It is really hard to concentrate and participate in the class discussion.

            When you are having a class discussion it is easy to drift away and kind of start daydreaming sometimes, and when someone is bouncing your desk and drumming their pencil it makes it even harder! When I try to answer a question it sometimes comes out funny and all messed up because I am getting bounced around. I really don’t like those types of seats.

            It is sometimes hard to stay focused in class and when someone is distracting you then it is even more difficult.  I don’t know if these things bug you the same way but I know they sure bug me.  So next time you are sitting behind someone try to be nice and keep your foot and your pencil still!

            During my ninth grade year I think this has happened more than ever! You would think that by the last year in Jr. High they would get the message that I am trying to send. The best way to avoid this problem is to sit in the very back where no one is behind you. This usually solves the problem pretty well. Whenever I don’t sit in the back I experience my worst pet peeve that happens at school!