Thanks a Million

Written by: Ashley George

As I was looking through potential ideas for a stress-less trick to try out, there was one in particular that caught my eye– keeping a gratitude journal. There are many different ways to go about doing this, but the most common method is to write down all of the things you are grateful for in one long list. Examples of things to write down could be your family, friends, pets, teachers, and many more. Instead of writing down everything I’m grateful for in one day, I decided it would be better to write down one thing every day that I’m most grateful for to avoid repetition. I would also include why I was grateful for that thing or person to remind myself why it is important to me.

On the first day, I wrote about one of the most important things in my life– my family. I included a lot about how much my siblings and my parents inspire me to be a better person every day. As the eldest of four kids, I have a lot of responsibility to make sure that I’m setting a good example for my brother and sisters. For me, it was very heartwarming to write down why I’m so grateful for my family and all they do for me. For the rest of the week, I continued to write down one person or thing that I am thankful for every day. Taking the time to focus on something more positive, like the people that make me happy, was a good way to keep me from stressing out so much. I was able to direct my attention away from all of the schoolwork and assignments that I was stressed about, which helped me to feel better prepared to deal with them once I started on my homework. Instead of only focusing on all of the assignments and projects that I had to work on, I had the opportunity to think about the people and things that make me feel grateful.

I also decided to have some friends join in on trying this trick out with me. Overall, the response was positive, and they all seemed to have the same results that I did. Some preferred to remain anonymous, but Sheima Farjah said, “I believe that overall, writing a journal did help me slow down and reflect on all of the positive things in my life, instead of always running around and being stressed about everything.” When asked if she would continue to write down the things that she is grateful for in the future, she said yes, similarly to the other friends.

This stress less trick proved to be very useful for me and a lot of other students. I would recommend that you try it out for yourselves in any way that you would like. Whether you decide to write everything down in one day, or if you decide to space things out like I did, I hope that you will be able to take the time to reflect on all of the good aspects from your life to keep you from focusing on the bad. Happy journaling!

My rating out of five stars:

★★★★☆