Mental Health & Well-Being: Gratitude (1)

Together for Mental Health: Everyone, Everyday

Developing positive mental health is important to academic achievement and overall well-being.

Thanksgiving has passed, but it doesn’t mean we have to stop giving thanks. So, what is Gratitude? Gratitude is when you feel thankful for the good things in your life. This could be stuff people often take for granted, like having a place to live, food, clean water, friends, and family. Gratitude is taking a moment to reflect on how lucky you are when something good happens, whether it's big or small. Being grateful feels nice and making a habit of it is good for you. Like other positive emotions, feeling grateful on a regular basis can have a big effect on your life by boosting your ability to learn, balancing out negative emotions, increasing caring actions which builds relationships, and improving your physical health. You can start by saying thank you more often or creating a gratitude jar or journal that you use and write in every day to notice the things that you are grateful for so your brain can remember them!  Can you think of one thing right now that you are grateful for?

PARENT/FAMILY/CAREGIVER INFORMATION

Thanksgiving has just passed, but it doesn’t mean that we still can’t continue to give thanks. Gratitude, is the act of feeling grateful for what you have. It can be directed toward people, events, circumstances, or even intangible things like good health or personal growth. It involves recognizing and acknowledging each moment that makes us realize the goodness we have around us. Studies show that people who practice gratitude experience more positive emotions, improve their physical health, build stronger relationships, and better deal with adversity. 

We are including a 21 Day Gratitude Challenge! Use the attached tool to begin practicing gratitude as a family.