Another big thing I’m grateful for is being able to live comfortably. Many people struggle to get through their daily lives worrying about food or money. I’m so grateful for the fact that I do not have to worry about that; I can wake up without having to worry about what I’m going to eat each day. I’m also grateful for the small things in life like being able to talk to my friends today or seeing a beautiful sunset. These small things remind me of how amazing the world is.
— Diana, Atrisco Heritage Academy High School
The good and the bad
I am Catholic, so my faith in God is really important — I am grateful for my faith. As I have gone through life, I have noticed that having a positive mentality and giving thanks to God and those around me make me a happier person. Even when things get hard, I believe that everything has a purpose, and so I am grateful for everything that has occurred in my life: the good and the bad.
— David M., Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School
I used to do something similar to what Ms. Batten does. Rather than her “gratitude jar,” I used to play a game with my younger sister called “rose of the day.” It wasn’t necessarily a game, but it did bring just as much joy and excitement. Everyday after we got picked up from school, we would ask each other what our petal of the day was, and our thorn of the day. It was a way to reflect on our day to see the negative along with the positive.
With the game we got to reflect on things big or small. Without the game, there would be times where I saw no purpose to a day, but playing it, even the little things started to have much more purpose, and a meaning so grand. Playing rose of the day was a way to give gratitude to the world, or even ourselves. When Ms. Batten said, “The grief is still there,” I found similarity to that with my game. With our game we still faced the negatives, taking them into accountability, however making our day still bright with a “rose.”
— Valeria C., Hoggard High School in Wilmington, NC (Block 3)
My family and I used to do something similar to Stacy Batten’s “gratitude jar.” Every day, my mom or dad would drop me off at my elementary school and say, “Have a golden gram day.” Our goal for the day was to each participate in one act of kindness toward someone. At dinner we would share what we did, and how it affected that person. We would then go around the table and say one thing we were thankful for and why we were thankful for it. We started doing this a lot when my mom got diagnosed with cancer. It was a really hard and stressful time, but by doing this, it created a warm energy within my family, and also helped our stress levels go down. Luckily, my mom beat cancer and is still here with us today. We don’t really talk about things we are thankful for at dinner anymore, but we still do things including writing thank-you letters, like the studies suggested, and noting the things we are grateful for, like Stacy Batten did.
— Aubrie R., Block 1, Hoggard High School
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