When I train my mind in gratitude, it does help. It primes me for hopeful thoughts, even when so much seems to go wrong in the world. Today, I began to record what I loved.
Things I Loved About Today
- I drank a delicious green smoothie (spinach, kale, oatmeal, pineapple, banana, raspberries, protein powder). When you start strong, the day feels better.
- I wrote with a favorite pen in my journal as the sun rose.
- I drove my daughter to school and listened to Frank Sinatra and Dominos. We sang.
- I played the same songs as my students arrived to class. We sang.
- I introduced the power of using analogies with a great courtroom scene with a famous analogy.
- My students created analogies and even chiasmus for their scholarly definition papers. I felt like a good teacher.
- A student shared her new favorite poem with me. I love when students share what they love with me.
- Back in my office, I had a quinoa bowl for lunch with roasted sweet potatoes, veggies, and a cilantro dressing my daughter made.
- I snacked on crackers and mandarin oranges while creating fresh slides on how to write effective and meaningful academic conclusions.
- I joined in on a Zoom training on designing syllabi and classrooms for neurodivergent students.
- I discovered how to find more printer paper for my office printer which finally works after 5 years.
- I will soon meet with my colleagues in our weekly support meeting where we taste and rate fine chocolate and share our burdens.
- A few student meetings were canceled, so I could check the news, write, and banter with a media studies professor on the Gwyneth Paltrow ski accident trial which we decided to watch live.
- I had moments to pray for my children, students, and husband as I walked around campus.
- I returned a library book and realized how much I love university libraries that can find you any book in the whole wide world and deliver it to your mailbox if you want.
- I ran into fun professors in the hallway, and we talked about our classes.
- I graded some student grammar quizzes on using strong verbs that continue to challenge even the best writers.
- I responded to emails from readers which brightened my day.
- I thought about what my husband might make for dinner and secretly hoped we would order pizza or Chinese food.
- I thought about taking a bubble bath and recounting all the ways this day delighted me.
Too often, after I pray about everything going wrong and all the evil around, I forget gratitude. Try to list out twenty things that made life feel good (even if it feels badly sometimes).