My senior year has not gone the way I had imagined it would. While having to adjust back to life post COVID, I have had some struggles. School is back to normal, I am back to practicing every day and I find it hard to focus on the good of my days instead of the stress. 

At first, I wasn’t sure how to solve this problem. I never expected to find the answer while sitting in social studies teacher Daniel Jones’s Psychology class at 7:10 a.m.

The simple idea of a gratitude journal has simply changed the way I view things. Recognizing things that I am grateful for and writing them down has improved my ability to focus on the good of my days and not the stressful aspects. Everyone should have their own form of a gratitude journal to improve many aspects of their life.

According to Harvard Health, “Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity and build strong relationships.”

With side effects like those, who wouldn’t want to recognize a little bit of gratitude each day?

The gratitude journal doesn’t have to be something big and fancy. For me, I will find a scratch piece of paper and write things down, or sometimes, just think about them and not write it down at all. 

The gratitude doesn’t have to be something life-altering either. For example, today I am grateful for Christmas lights, my favorite uncle who always makes me laugh, music and ponytail holders. 

While none of those things are anything big, just a little bit of gratitude is enough to make me feel happier for the day.

While I do realize that my way of doing a gratitude journal may not be appealing to everyone, I encourage people to come up with their own way of doing it and see if showing appreciation for things affects their mood.

A gratitude journal takes little effort and the benefits are tremendous. Focusing on the good of the day instead of the bad or the stressful has helped me in more ways than I am able to count. 

If we all showed just a little bit of gratitude each day, the world could be a much happier place.