As a student, I’ve tried my best to accomplish as much as possible. I want to do well in school – that’s a goal of mine, and I want to learn, too. However, I often find myself losing myself in schoolwork and activities that may be occurring in my life. I never intentionally try to do this, but I feel my mind becoming absorbed with things that correlate to the school day, making me anxious and worried more than I would like.
With this in mind, I want to focus on my one-word resolution for this year: gratitude. With my schedule, I tend to forget the things in my life that I cherish the most, leading to me taking them for granted. I never want to do this, and, in my attempt to be more aware, I will do my best to practice gratitude daily.
I’m grateful for so many things in my life – my family, my friends and the opportunities I can have. I don’t want to take these things for granted. Practicing gratitude will be good for me; it will help me see what people and connections in my life are here throughout the bad. To do this, I will attempt to log one thing I’m grateful for each day, no matter how big or small it is or how good or bad my day was. If my day was bad, I want to improve it; if it was good already, I want to improve it. Positivity during hectic times is important, and gratitude can help naturally induce positivity. With being grateful comes optimism, and with optimism comes happiness. Happiness heals.
For me, though, I find myself thinking negative thoughts more often than positive ones. Whether they just creep into my mind or if I find myself validated for feeling them, they’re in my mind nonetheless. My negative thoughts can consume me, make me forget about the nice things in my life, and lead me to think about only the pessimistic thoughts. But, to alleviate these thoughts, practicing gratitude is essential. Gratitude brings happiness, and I want to be happy and grateful in the upcoming new year.
Out of everybody in the world I could be, I am myself. I’m grateful for that. I am thankful for the fact that I can have my thoughts, my own opinions and my feelings. Not only do I want to seek out gratitude throughout the rest of my life, but I especially want to find it in this one thing in 2025: myself.