As we all know, Thanksgiving is coming up. This year, your celebration might be through a digital screen, which is a bummer. But, ironically, in being separated from our loved ones, we’re showing through our actions just how thankful we are to have them in our lives.
Maybe in the past, it might be challenging to express gratitude during Thanksgiving. This year though, we have the added stress of dealing with the effects of COVID-19 as well as our usual qualms with the world. The saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” doesn’t even apply anymore. Does lemonade even taste good without sugar? (And to my avid water infused with lemon drinkers, the answer is no).
I, too, used to be in a fog; I even remember the day, March 12, when lockdown started. I think senioritis, COVID-19, and the lack of normalcy were just side courses to my already pessimistic view on life. It’s not to say that I was always that way. Growing up, I was happy for some strange reason. Even if all I had done was schoolwork the day before, or life at home wasn’t that great, I could smile and be “happy” regardless. Is that why adults miss their childhoods? Anyway, I reflected on this younger version of myself and decided to take it upon myself with my newfound free time indoors to find “happiness.” Or since happiness is difficult to define, I’ll say more freely, to find a more optimistic outlook on life.
Coursera was offering a course called “The Science of Well-Being,” run by Professor Laurie Santos of Yale. I love science, was looking for “well-being,” and took AP Psychology, so I thought… it couldn’t hurt to try.
I diligently worked through the course, stopping at week 5 of 10 since my new life goal was to become Bob Ross and make dalonga coffee. However, for those five weeks, each week focused on a different aspect of well-being, and they asked you to do an activity. I took the exercises with a grain of salt most weeks, so I won’t expand upon them here. However, there was one activity that helped me to become an optimist again.
This activity consists of listing five things you’re grateful for every day. Simple enough. When you start, you might want to start writing it down; that way, the experience is more mindful. Moreover, if you are not in your best state, writing down your gratitude could help you think of ideas rather than admitting defeat quickly. It’s so easy for us intelligent beings to look back at our day and only pause and reflect on the negative: our failures, mistakes, and shortcomings. That’s why we need to look deeper within ourselves to see the good that we did, and other people did for us, or the small pockets of peace within our daily lives. When I started, I opened up the Notes app on my iPhone and listed five things along with the date. After just a week of doing this, I began to notice those things in my daily life. I was more aware of the positive than the negative in my life. This practice, over time, helps create a positive outlook, which can lead to happiness. You can actively recall, embrace, and store the good that has happened to you in a day. Soon you’ll have good weeks, good years, and good life (theoretically speaking, don’t hold me to that). On the days I’m feeling down, I can look back on my notes and all the things I’ve been grateful for so far, improving my mood and outlook immensely. It you’re considering doing this practice, I would also recommend staying off social media as seeing other people’s highlight reels and comparing it to your entire day will defeat this practice’s purpose. I hope you will take the time to write down five things you’re grateful for today. (One of them being this article! :) )