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Practicing Gratitude:Three good things activity

Health & Mind Club

WHY YOU SHOULD TRY IT

In our day-to-day lives, it is easy to get caught up in the things that go wrong and feel like we are living under our own private rain cloud; at the same time, we tend to adapt to the good things and people in our lives, taking them for granted. As a result, we often overlook everyday beauty and goodness—a kind gesture from a stranger, say, or the cooling of our air conditioning on a hot day. In the process, we frequently miss opportunities for happiness and connection.


This practice guards against those tendencies. By remembering and listing three positive

and listing three positive things that happened in your day—and considering what caused them—you tune into the sources of goodness in your life. It is a habit that can change the emotional tone of your life, replacing feelings of disappointment or entitlement with those of gratitude—which may be why this practice is associated with significant increases in happiness.


TIME REQUIRED

10 minutes/day for at least one week.


HOW TO DO IT

  • Each day for at least one week, write down three things that went well for you today, and provide an explanation for why they went well.

  • It is important to create a physical record of your items by writing them down; it is not enough simply to do this exercise in your head.

  • The items can be relatively small in importance or relatively large. To make this exercise part of your daily routine, some find that writing before bed is helpful.




  • As you write, follow these instructions:

  • Give the event a title (e.g., “Teacher/ Colleague complimented my work on a project”).

  • Write down exactly what happened in as much detail as possible, including what you did or said and, if others were involved, what they did or said.

  • Include how this event made you feel at the time and how this event made you feel later (including now, as you remember it).

  • Explain what you think caused this event—why it came to pass.

  • Use whatever writing style you please, and do not worry about perfect grammar and spelling. Use as much detail as you would like.

  • If you find yourself focusing on negative feelings, refocus your mind on the good event and the positive feelings that came with it.

  • This can take effort but gets easier with practice and can make a real difference in how you feel.


EVIDENCE IT THAT WORKS

Writing about three good things was associated with increased happiness immediately afterward, as well as one week, one month, three months, and six months later.


WHY IT WORKS

By giving you the space to focus on the positive, this practice teaches you to notice, remember, and savor the better things in life. It may prompt you to pay closer attention to positive events down the road and engage in them more fully—both in the moment and later on, when you can reminisce and share these experiences with others. Reflecting on the cause of the event may help attune you to the deeper sources of goodness in your life, fostering a mindset of gratitude.



Compiled Source


 
 
 

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Comments


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Mrs. Elizabeth Mathew

Having good mental health is key to the healthy development and well-being of every child. Children need good mental health - not only to be able to deal with challenges and adapt to change, but so they can feel good about themselves, build healthy relationships with others and enjoy life.

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Emin Binu

It is said that you must treat your body like a temple and the greatest of pillars have the strongest of bases. If your body is that pillar then your mind is that base. The discourse around mental health in school has exponentially increased and the Health and Mind Club has played a massive role in making that happen. It gives me immense pleasure to be leading the club and encouraging our members to use the club as a catalyst for the mental well being of the school. We strive to stamp out the stigma and provide an all inviting, all accepting platform.

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Hrithika Pillai

Mental health is not a destination, but a process. It's about how you drive, not where you're going."
Mental health is equally important as physical health. It includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being, which affects our day to day life. 
The aim of the Health & Mind Club is to  ensure that we students have a healthy and positive mindset.

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Serah Prakkat

Serah Prakkat is an alumni of the University of Washington, Seattle. She graduated with a Bachelor of Sciences in Psychology and minor in Informatics. She took care of outreach, marketing and conducting workshops while being an active member and contributor to MHEA. She looks forward to joining Microsoft as a full time employee and is now working with the MHEA team on a research paper

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