What is Gratitude Circle 1 Give an example

What is Gratitude?

Circle 1) Give an example of someone or something that you are grateful for. How do you show your gratitude for this person or thing?

Bell Ringer Answer the following prompt. Write a short thank you note to someone who has impacted your life.

What is gratitude? Gratitude is the quality of being thankful and a readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

An Attitude of Gratitude means having feelings of thankfulness and appreciation that occur because someone has either done something for you have experienced something good in your life. Gratitude is one of the most important parts of well-being. It has the power to increase our positive emotions, deepen our relationships, increase our feelings of meaning and purpose, and inspire higher levels of grit and resilience. We all have felt grateful for something in our lives: our parents, our friends, a time when we experienced something good that we were not looking for, and countless others. However, many times we can get bogged down by all the bad things that have happened to us. It can blind us to the good things that do happen every day. An important part of gratitude is simply becoming aware of those good things and bringing our feelings of thankfulness out of our heads and into existence. When something good happens, we need to be able to express our gratitude. It will connect us with others, it will deepen our relationships, and it will even decrease our negative emotions.

An Attitude of Gratitude The other side of the gratitude coin is a simple appreciation for one’s situation in life. We are going to call this an “attitude of gratitude. ” Everyone has aspirations and ambitions for their life, and that is not a negative thought process to have at all. But when our focus is on the acquisition of things or wealth, instead of on enjoying our life and being happy with who we are, we can quickly become selfish, bitter people who are never satisfied with what we have. How can you enjoy your life when you are obsessed with the next thing? This attitude of gratitude is important in our ability to enjoy what we have. It is a cliché for the poorest person to be happy with their family and the things they have, while the rich person is bitter and greedy and will sell their grandmother for a nickel. Not every poor person is happy with what they have and not every rich person is greedy and cruel, but the sentiment remains: wealth does not equal happiness. It is what we do with what we have that truly matters. That attitude of gratitude will lead you to

An Attitude of Gratitude Section Questions: 1. How many times in an average day does someone show kindness towards you? How many times do you actually thank that person? 2. Sometimes just saying thanks does not seem like a strong enough exercise of gratitude. What are some other ways that you can show that you are grateful for others?

Growth Mindset One of the key aspects of gratitude is recognizing and accepting kindness from others. If we have a fixed mindset, we may believe that we have all of the answers or that our abilities are enough to carry us through life. Any act of kindness, therefore, is a reminder of our vulnerabilities. That can make us suspicious and even bitter towards those who are showing us kindness. If you have ever heard someone say, or even said yourself, that “I don’t need your charity, ” you may have a fixed mindset toward gratitude. The growth mindset, on the other hand, focuses on the kindness as an act of generosity. Someone went out of their way to help us or say something kind to us. They are on our side, actively trying to help us succeed. Having a growth mindset toward gratitude also reminds us that we can always show more gratitude for the things in our life and the kindness others have shown us. We should not feel that we are ever ‘done’ repaying the kindness of others.

Growth Mindset Questions 1. How does the fixed mindset keep us from showing gratitude toward others? 2. How can the growth mindset improve our relationships with others?

Three Good Things In our lives, we can get caught up in the things that go wrong and make us feel negative. One bad thing, or a combination of a few bad things, can make it feel like we are being targeted or punished for some reason. On the other hand, we can become blind to the good things that are happening, taking them for granted or seeing them as small spots of sunshine in a life of rainclouds. We often can miss moments of beauty and goodness, such as someone doing something kind for us or having comforts that others struggle without. We miss chances to feel grateful and connect with others. This exercise helps to bring awareness to the good things that happen to us every day. By bringing awareness, we shine a light on both big and small moments of goodness that might be getting lost in our day. When we write these moments down, we are documenting positivity that we can come back and remember, savoring those good moments and reminding ourselves that every day has goodness in it. And finally, by considering what caused these moments, we can tap into the sources of goodness and can work to recreate them. If you get joy from taking a walk one day, maybe take the time to walk every day. Discovering goodness is a habit that can be created, and it can help to change the emotional theme of your life. You can replace those feelings of fear,

Three Good Things Activity: We can often get burdened by the bad things that happen to us, but we can train our brains to look for positive things and savor the good feelings we get from these events. Take 10 minutes and write down three good things that have happened to you in the last 24 hours. These need to be events that have led you to have positive feelings or feelings of accomplishment, but it does not have to be a big or important event: getting a good grade on a project, going to see a movie with a friend, progressing in a sport or hobby are all examples, but so are getting a compliment from someone, doing better on a test than you thought you would, etc. It is important that you write these things down, not just to create the list in your head. Once you have written down the three events, go back and write an explanation for why you think this event occurred. If it helps, you can write down your three good things at the end of the day. Just make sure to show the teacher that

Tool for Learning: Gratitude Your teacher will play a video for you titled, Remember to Say ‘Thank You’. This video will discuss the power of gratitude. Once you have finished, answer the questions below. 1. Why do you think we feel embarrassed to thank others? 2. Why do we feel embarrassed to receive thanks from others? 3. Why is requesting thanks an important part of the gratitude process?

Know Your Quote Oprah Winfrey is an American media figure, actress, talk show host, producer, and philanthropist. She is perhaps best known for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, which ran from 1986 to 2011 and was the highest-rated television talk show in history. Oprah is one of the richest women in the world, as well as being North America’s first black multibillionaire. She is one of the greatest philanthropists in American history, giving millions of dollars in donations and scholarships every year. In this section, we will be looking at a quote attributed to her. "Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you

Know Your Quote 1. Turn to the person next to you: Tell what you think this quote means. 2. Follow up question: How do you think greed keeps us from enjoying our lives? 3. How does gratitude add to our happiness?

Mindful Moment Mindful Exercise: 1. Start by observing. Notice thank yous you say. Just how habitual a response is it? Is it a hasty aside, an afterthought? How are you feeling when you express thanks in small transactions? Stressed, uptight, a little absent-minded? Do a quick scan of your body—are you already physically moving on to your next interaction? 2. Pick one interaction a day. When your instinct to say “thanks” arises, stop for a moment and take note. Can you name what you feel grateful for, even beyond the gesture that’s been extended? Then say thank you.

Gratitude Rituals Activity: Gratitude Rituals One aspect of building our awareness of gratitude is creating what are called “gratitude rituals. ” These rituals can help uncover good things that may have been hidden because of our previously negative thinking. Creating rituals can also have the effect of taking activities that we have begun to take for granted and shine a light on what it takes to make this thing happen. Recognizing these events, words, and behaviors as good or kind, and expressing gratitude for them and the person or people who may have done them, increase our positive emotions and the likelihood that we will return the kindness later. As with the Gratitude Journal, this exercise begins with awareness. Ask your students to focus on every aspect of their daily routine, looking for

Gratitude Rituals Directions: Have your students think about their daily routine. Have them write down things that happen most days, or at least things that happen every other day or every week. For everything that happens, have them examine whether someone is helping them or providing for them: parents providing food, clothing, driving to school/practice/friend’s houses; friends helping with homework, giving advice, listening when you have a problem; teachers providing help with classwork, giving feedback, talking you through a problem; family giving gifts on birthdays, calling to catch up, coming to your athletic or extracurricular events. These are just a few examples of things that happen daily, weekly, and monthly, and which are often going without a genuine expression of thankfulness. For this exercise, have your students write down five things that happen daily that are examples of someone helping or providing for them. For each one, have them write why they are thankful for this person or event and how they

Gratitude Rituals So, for the next few weeks, whenever one of these things happen students should immediately say thank you. For each meal, offer thanks to the person who made it. When a parent drops you off for school say thank you every time. When a friend lets you borrow something, say thank you every time. And so on. Thanking people immediately for their actions that helps us in our daily lives can build up what is called dispositional gratitude, which means that you will notice goodness and kindness in your life without having to be asked.