When he lived in California, my oldest son Christiaan headed up a team in the biotech industry. His employer sent him to a workshop on the value and impact of gratitude, especially as it affects the workplace.
The takeaway was to have each member of the team write three things for which they were grateful every day. Chris said it resulted in an improved atmosphere, more helpfulness and positivity, and better-quality cooperation.
It worked for the classroom as well. Students were kinder to each other and we were a better learning community. Sixth-graders had to be reminded that they could not cite family, life itself, and God every day. They branched out wonderfully. My favorite was that one girl was grateful for purple!
So, I am going to share my three gratitudes.
One is the word “y’all.” It is all-inclusive. The word has so many connotations. A riff on y’all is “all of y’all” (usually pronounced “all-a-y’all”) which emphasizes the all-encompassing nature of the word. It is so much softer and nicer than “you guys.”
Another of my gratitudes is sleep. Good sleep is so luxurious!
Of course, I am at an age where discomfort from arthritis disrupts my sleep. I used to sleep eight straight hours in one position, never disrupting the other side of the bed. Now I have to change positions to accommodate shoulder or back or neck pain. Also, I get up at least once a night to use the bathroom. Usually, it is not problematic to get back to sleep, but occasionally I can be awake for an hour or more.
Afternoon naps are another source of indulgence. My family knows that I nap every afternoon sometime between 1:00 and 5:00, not for four hours but during that time frame. When I worked as a secretary, I usually went home for lunch and took a quick, 20-minute power nap which saw me through the afternoon.
My third gratitude for the day is music. Classical music, country music, upbeat children’s songs, popular music, old-school rap — all of it! I cannot listen to Bruno Mars’s “Uptown Funk” without smiling and singing along.
At the food pantry, there is a guy who knows all the old songs, and we often sing them. At school, Laura Nance and Edith Leggins knew them all. They dredge up good memories from being a teenager and young adult.
When she was very young, Kya had me make a list in the computer titled “Songs of Our Good Memory.” You gotta love even the title of that document! She knew that she was my “Brown-Eyed Girl” and that “Rock-a My Soul” could be sung with syncopation.
What can you list as gratitudes or blessings?
