A tip for Tuesday...

My daughters will tell you that for years I have preached to them whenever a crisis or problem has arisen about how things could be worse, or that they should be looking for the good that can come out of a situation. They're right - guilty as charged.  In my defense, I have found it a useful tool to try to find some lesson or benefit to come of every situation in life.  Then, at the very least, even the bad times can hold some meaning.  So when I discovered Sarah Ban Breathnach, her book Simple Abundance and the idea of keeping a Gratitude journal, I immediately thought she was on to something.

For a long time I merely kept a list in my head about the good things I encountered on a daily basis.  But when I went back to teaching several years ago, I thought I could adapt the idea to work with Third Graders.  It turned out to be an even more wonderful experience than I had hoped for!

Among the necessary items I asked my new students to bring each September, was a small notebook in which they would write.  On the first day, I instructed them that we would be writing down each morning three things we were glad about.  Then each student in turn would share with the class one of the items they had written.

I also kept a notebook and was the first to share each morning for the first few weeks, until the kids got the hang of it.  Among the things they would share: I'm glad my Grandma is feeling better, I'm glad my team won yesterday, I'm glad Mrs. G is my teacher, I'm glad I have a sister, and on and on.  I would share that I was glad my daughter got back safely to her college, or I was glad my dog was feeling better, or I was glad I had the best class in the school.

One of the most touching things to watch was the way the kids started to pay close attention when their classmates shared and little by little, would start to know them better.  They might realize that someone was worried about a grandparent or someone's Mom was expecting a baby.  Maybe they had been anxious about a test and were glad they got a good grade. Once and a while a child would have a down morning and tell me they had nothing good to share.  I would then get very basic and ask if they had legs and arms that worked, and eyes that could look at the world.  There were days when some of the kids were just so excited to share what they had written.  Some students would beg to share all three items.

As you can imagine, this practice turned out to be a wonderful tool for discussing some profound moments in our recent history - the Oklahoma City bombing, September 11th, and the war in Iraq.  There were numerous days that we all wrote we were glad that we, and the people we loved, were safe.

I have continued the practice, and write in a notebook every night after dinner.  I hope that some of my students carried on the practice, or at the very least kept their notebooks.  It would be interesting to look back at what was important to them in the Third Grade.

So that's my suggestion.  Keep a small notebook or journal and jot down anywhere from 3 to 5 things you are grateful for or "glad about" each day.  You may find as I have that you start to look more carefully around you during the day and find there is an abundance for which to be grateful.