Thoughts of Gratitude

In Thanksgiving Challenge: The Gratitude Sprint from Lisa Ricard Claro – Author, Lisa Ricard Claro challenges us with this:

“The Thanksgiving challenge is a sprint of 30 seconds. List as many things as you can for which you are grateful and which are NOT connected in any way to the “core” list, the aforementioned God, family, friends, etc.”

I realize how easy it is to be grateful for things like food and water and shelter but harder to list the specifics. I don’t’ know that I sometimes feel nitpicky but why not? Why shouldn’t I be grateful for the little things too?  And I shouldn’t just be grateful for these things during Thanksgiving but for all the time.

So, here is my list:

·      After hearing that my friends are still without power for two months so far in Puerto Rico, I’m grateful for my electricity that I take for granted every day.

·      I’m thankful for the gas heat that we have because it heats up our house quickly.

·      I’m thankful for the hooded sweatshirt that I wear constantly.

·      I’m thankful for the sunroom that I sit in a lot to knit and spin yarn.

·      I’m thankful for the library where I can borrow books and even download books onto my iPad.

·      I’m thankful for the Yeti type cup that I drink from because my drinks are always cold.

·      I’m thankful for our Casita camper that we use now for camping because it is nice to sleep in a bed and have a bathroom to use.

·      I’m thankful for my knitting group that meets every week because I enjoy the laughter and the friendships.

·      I’m thankful for the dollar store glasses that I use to read with.

·      I’m thankful for the K&W cafeteria that has specials twice a week. We like to meet up with our daughter and son in law to have lunch with them there.

There are lots of things I can think of but I only gave myself 30 seconds.

I think this would be a fun activity to do with students on a regular basis. The world tends to focus on the negative too much every day and this would help students think more positively. I would have each student make a list and tell them that spelling doesn’t count (this is a big deal for many of them). Then have them share a couple of things with a partner and then with the whole class.

What can you come up with in 30 seconds? Please share.

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