One thing that I definitely learned in Kenya was to be grateful for all that I have. When I got home, I came across this article in my Twitter feed about 10 simple, science-based ways to increase happiness. What's cool is that I practice a lot of these strategies: exercising, sleeping more (well, I try to at least), spending time with loved ones, and helping others. I've always tried to work on gratitude, which is #10 on the list. In fact, when I was in Kenya, I wrote in my journal that I'd like to keep a gratitude journal when I get home.
I haven't started that yet, but I have an empty journal kicking around, and I'm going to consider this post as my first entry. Each day, I'm going to jot down at least three things that I'm grateful for. I had a pretty great day today. I spent the full day at work. I lead 40 student leaders in preparing for tomorrow's grade 9 orientation. I do this every year, and I find it's a great way to ease into the school year. Instead of just going in and doing mind-numbing paper work, I get to work with a great bunch of kids. (And then when it's over, I do the mind-numbing paper work.)
Today I was grateful for the following:
1) The president and vice-president of student council were the first two students to arrive. They were excited to see me (aww) and gave me big hugs (aww). I was grateful for the welcome.
2) My friend Nigel was helping me out today. We also are taking the student leaders to a camp at the end of September. We did this last year, and we reminisced about how the worst thing that happened during those three days was when we were lounging on a patio, overlooking a beautiful view of fall foliage, and then there was a slight breeze and we felt cold for a few seconds. We had a huge laugh remembering this, and I'm grateful for laughs with good friends/colleagues.
3) I bought rafiki bracelets for some colleagues at work who supported my trip to Kenya. I handed out a couple of them today, and my colleagues were thrilled with them. I am grateful for support, and also to be able to make people happy with small tokens of appreciation.
