Attitude of Gratitude

The following remarks were delivered to The Middle and Upper School Community during our Thanksgiving Assembly:

Our students have returned to having an array of purposeful learning — both in and out of the classrooms with field trips and outings included. They have been busy reconnecting with their teachers and classmates over inspiring topics, hearing from guest speakers, and engaging in the science labs, all of which has strengthened our love for learning. There has been an “attitude of gratitude” on campus, which has revealed how resilient and strong we have become during these challenging times.

 

Each year we have a theme that helps us highlight a portion of the School’s mission. This year’s theme “Reflection, Resilience, Reconnection” has guided our programming and thinking this fall. As we began the second full year of managing life during a pandemic, our expert educators reflected on ways to design their classrooms so that students can reconnect with each other, the material they are studying, and the people who support their learning. We are well on our way to fulfilling our theme as we reflect and reconnect with each other and school life.

 

What about resilience? I have been reading and reflecting on the concept of resilience this past summer and into this fall. I wondered if this quality we all seem to need more than ever can be taught? Can we get better at being resilient even if it is not in our nature? And if so, how might we develop this quality within ourselves?

 

We commonly hear that “kids are resilient.” Why do we say that? Is it really true? The reading I have done has led me to suggest that young people, and older people too, are able to become more resilient with some awareness and behavioral guidance that develop the habits needed to create a more resilient person.

 

Well before the pandemic, in a research study conducted in 2014 and published in Forbes, an article was featured about how expressing gratitude during hard times proves beneficial to the person’s ability to be resilient. Professor at Northeastern University and writer Amy Morin asserts that there are seven proven benefits of expressing gratitude. She asserts that if we practice gratitude, it will improve our physical and mental health, will enhance empathy and reduce aggression, help us sleep better, improve our self-esteem, open doors to more relationships, and increase our mental strength. Thereby, expressing gratitude produces resiliency in people. In fact, according to her research, showing gratitude in hard times makes it possible to be a stronger and healthier person despite the circumstances as it strengthens our overall ability to be resilient.

 

In 2014 people were looking for answers to developing resiliency, but the pandemic has asked even more of us. In asking those same questions, people have pressed doctors to seek answers as to how people can learn to survive during tough times. Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine Dr. Southwick claims, "Resilient people are like trees bending in the wind. They bounce back." One habit of resilient people is to find those silver linings and show and express gratitude. When this behavior becomes habit, it helps people bounce back, to be like a tree bending in the wind and not break.

 

This fall, I have seen our students show gratitude here at School. Students have shown gratitude for the variety of food we have been serving, the new early morning breakfast offerings, and for various program offerings despite the restrictions and daily use of masks. Teachers have shared how our senior class has been leading our student body with appreciation and gratitude despite the interruption and disappointments they have experienced over the past 20 months. It spanned their high school experience and disrupted their journey they planned to have. In fact, the Class of 2022 even rallied early one morning and watched the sun rise together and experienced gratitude as a class for another day.

 

If we practice this “attitude of gratitude” that we have seen this fall and integrate it into a daily behavior, we will be able to face our fears with more strength and find possibilities where challenges might otherwise overcome us. The problems in our communities, country, and world that need solving will be easier to lift up if we possess the courage that comes with resilience. Since Thanksgiving reminds us to be thankful, wouldn’t it be great if we took this day of thanks and made it a habit every day?