An Attitude of Gratitude

On October 4, 2016 I met with a Professional Development coach hired by the district to assist administrators with whatever they were struggling with as a leader. At the time I was stressed about a lot of things such as the beginning of the year challenges, there were a few initiatives that were not going so well, and personally I was drained.

Her first question to me after I went through everything that was going wrong really threw me off… She asked, “So what are you grateful for?” I struggled to even remember what gratitude meant, much less what I was grateful for.  I quickly replied, “I am grateful for my kids.” She validated my answer but challenged me to look more micro. She went on to talk about sunshine, trees, life, food, someone smiling, showers, etc. Then it hit me … there is so much to be grateful for.

She taught me how to make a gratitude list and how to incorporate it into a daily mediation that would be completed in the morning. She also recommended that I purchase The Magic by Rhonda Byrne. I highly recommend to get this book! I read it and applied each of the suggestions in the book for a month and it did wonders for my life and my school!

Everyday (well I have missed a day or two here and there) since October 4, 2016 I wake up and complete a very basic Gratitude List. I focus on 5 things I was grateful for from the previous day. As I stated before, this was very difficult in the beginning because I was focusing on the wrong things. This journal has helped me overcome the stress, anxiety of being a father, and a principal.

Practical Applications for Schools

Those in the field of education can empathize with the stress, and demands of our profession.  Whether it is federal, state or local initiatives, fights, bullying, curriculum, poverty, etc we are always facing some type of challenge. For instance, prior to doing the gratitude list I would be extremely disappointed when we had a fight in our school. It would be as if the entire day was ruined. Since doing the gratitude list I can put things in a better perspective. Now, although I am disappointed, I realize that there were 1,100 other students who came to school and did not fight. I realize that there were thousands upon thousands of interactions with students that did not result in a fight.

So as you can see the Gratitude List can make small, important changes in your perspective. As an educator you will be transformed through gratitude and pretty soon you may even have your students and teachers writing gratitude lists!