The Art of being thankful
The last couple of years have seen an influx of talk, books, videos, blogs, and service projects all centered around the idea of taking the time to be thankful, to acknowledge aloud or in writing what you are grateful for. The month of November is often considered the month where we acknowledge our thankfulness. So, I want to share a little bit with you about thankfulness.
In 2008, the book titled The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch took the world by storm. In the broader world of academia, universities often ask well-known and respected professors to give a "last lecture"...basically, it is meant for them to share what they would with students if it is the last chance they have before death to speak. These lectures are typically very thought-provoking and challenge the audience with profound questions. Pausch did not give a typical lecture. Instead, he spoke about living life now and to the fullest. His advice is fun and witty while still teaching his audience some things he learned about life. Prior to giving this lecture, Pausch learned that he had a terminal illness and died a couple of months after the lecture. The lecture was then recorded in a book and published. The wisdom Pausch shares in this speech has touched and changed lives dramatically.
One statement he made was, “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand”. He proposes that it is the way you live your life that is important. It is how we connect with others that truly matters. “Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other.” Pausch is right. It is a simple thing, and yet it is an act acknowledging something good in yourself, your day, or someone else. There is power in that.
In 2010, corporate executive John Kralick's life was falling apart. He was miserable, depressed, and struggling in a life that many of us strive for. Kralick embarked on a campaign of gratefulness. His book, 365 Thank Yous: the year a simple act of gratitude changed my life, chronicles a year of writing thank you notes to someone each day. These notes were for big and small things, but each was an acknowledgement of something that someone else had done or just for who they were. This practice changed his life.
These are just two of many examples of how the act of saying Thank You or sharing what you are grateful for shifts and changes one's outlook on life, success, and overall happiness. Last year, the Library launched our first ever Gratefulness Project where we created a space for you to write each day what you were thankful for. The student/faculty/staff response was phenomenal and overwhelmingly exceeded our expectations. We received hundreds of responses in the one month that we ran this for. This year, we wanted to see how much more we can do. So, we are launching this November, a year-long gratefulness project. We will be putting together your responses and sharing the project with campus in hopes of encouraging each other in this campaign. We would love to have you all participate in the project as often as you would like. Here's how:
- visit us in the Library and write a note and leave it on our Gratefulness board.
- email us a thought or pic from your phone of what you are thankful for.
- Post your thought, pick, or comment on our Facebook page, or Gratefulness Project Board on Pinterest, or here on the blog.
- Tweet what you are thankful for @LibraryTvcc #gratitudechallenge
We are excited to see what you do with this project this year.
And one last thought from Randy Pausch...
“It's not about how to achieve your dreams, it's about how to lead your life, ... If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, the dreams will come to you.”
In 2008, the book titled The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch took the world by storm. In the broader world of academia, universities often ask well-known and respected professors to give a "last lecture"...basically, it is meant for them to share what they would with students if it is the last chance they have before death to speak. These lectures are typically very thought-provoking and challenge the audience with profound questions. Pausch did not give a typical lecture. Instead, he spoke about living life now and to the fullest. His advice is fun and witty while still teaching his audience some things he learned about life. Prior to giving this lecture, Pausch learned that he had a terminal illness and died a couple of months after the lecture. The lecture was then recorded in a book and published. The wisdom Pausch shares in this speech has touched and changed lives dramatically.
One statement he made was, “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand”. He proposes that it is the way you live your life that is important. It is how we connect with others that truly matters. “Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other.” Pausch is right. It is a simple thing, and yet it is an act acknowledging something good in yourself, your day, or someone else. There is power in that.
In 2010, corporate executive John Kralick's life was falling apart. He was miserable, depressed, and struggling in a life that many of us strive for. Kralick embarked on a campaign of gratefulness. His book, 365 Thank Yous: the year a simple act of gratitude changed my life, chronicles a year of writing thank you notes to someone each day. These notes were for big and small things, but each was an acknowledgement of something that someone else had done or just for who they were. This practice changed his life.
These are just two of many examples of how the act of saying Thank You or sharing what you are grateful for shifts and changes one's outlook on life, success, and overall happiness. Last year, the Library launched our first ever Gratefulness Project where we created a space for you to write each day what you were thankful for. The student/faculty/staff response was phenomenal and overwhelmingly exceeded our expectations. We received hundreds of responses in the one month that we ran this for. This year, we wanted to see how much more we can do. So, we are launching this November, a year-long gratefulness project. We will be putting together your responses and sharing the project with campus in hopes of encouraging each other in this campaign. We would love to have you all participate in the project as often as you would like. Here's how:- visit us in the Library and write a note and leave it on our Gratefulness board.
- email us a thought or pic from your phone of what you are thankful for.
- Post your thought, pick, or comment on our Facebook page, or Gratefulness Project Board on Pinterest, or here on the blog.
- Tweet what you are thankful for @LibraryTvcc #gratitudechallenge
We are excited to see what you do with this project this year.
And one last thought from Randy Pausch...
“It's not about how to achieve your dreams, it's about how to lead your life, ... If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, the dreams will come to you.”
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