Week 9 Coaching Assignment - Leading Positive Change

Gratitude Journal for Ingrid Elisabeth Sørensen

Day 1:

I find this assignment to be interesting. Lately, with the workload increasing in school, I notice that I’m mostly just “going through the motions”, and mainly focusing on my school assignments. However, after reading the assignment I started to think about the good things in my life. Of course I thought of my family and friends right away. They are a huge part of my life, and now that I’m in a different country, and I’m not able to see them as often, I find myself missing them in a different way than when I’m studying back in my home country, but I’m in a different town than them. Before they were just a couple of hours away, now they’re on a different continent! And missing them makes me realize how important they are, and how thankful I actually am to have them in my life on a daily basis back home. Normally I take them as a given, because “they’re always there”. But I can’t say that right now, because I’m so far away. However, in a sense they’re still right here, because I know that I can still count on them. And that makes me very grateful.

Also, after coming here, my social life has naturally changed. I hang out with different people here than I do back home. When I arrived here I knew one person - the girl traveling with me. Other than that I was completely alone. But when I came here, I immediately got to know several different people, and they immediately became the friends I would hang out with for the rest of this semester. And so, I’m also grateful for the people that I’ve met here. Because they are the ones that get me out of bed and drag me to social events.

Day 2:
This week is pretty hectic. In a way, after writing the first entry, I was able to slow down for a short while and be more appreciative of what I’m doing and why. I got more focus on my goal and the purpose of my studying (to find a good job and become independent), and I was able to think more long term about why I’m doing this, and I felt it helped me breathe more slowly and regain my focus. Instead of just becoming more exhausted and overwhelmed by everything I had to do, I felt more of a drive to continue. Because no matter what, I can’t “escape” my responsibilities towards the school, and neither do I want to. But after a while, I often get stuck in a pattern with little variation, and sometimes it’s hard to see the end of the tunnel. But today I thought about my goals and the purpose behind the hard work that I do, and I was able to motivate myself and finish my work on time.

I also received an email with updates from back home, where my parents wanted to know how everything was going, and if I was still having a good time. This made me even more grateful for them. I got to thinking about everything they’ve done for me, in order for me to have a proper education, and how much they care about my future and my wellbeing.

Day 3:

Today someone surprised me with a coffee. We had an early meeting, and we were both tired. And when she arrived at our table she handed me the coffee with a smile. And it made my day. It was a small gesture of appreciation, but I could feel it. And it made the rest of the meeting feel lighter somehow. Because even though we were both tired and perhaps not the most motivated students at that hour, she had recognized my effort, and I wanted to show her that I had recognized hers by being effective and hard-working during our meeting.

After the meeting, I kept thinking about how I had been grateful for her gesture, and how it had brightened my day, and I couldn’t help but wonder when the last time I had made this type of gesture was? It doesn’t take a lot of effort, but it shows that you appreciate another person - it shows that you are grateful. So I decided then and there that I would try and show my gratitude more openly. For example, growing up with my parents, I’ve grown accustomed to having my dinner ready and waiting for me at the table, and not having to make it myself. I’ve also grown accustomed to saying thanks for the food after. But I can’t remember the last time I’ve actually stopped to think about the effort that goes in to making the food, and actually looking my parents in the eyes and truly saying thank you after.

I think that if I focus more on showing my gratitude, I can also become more grateful in return. By focusing on gratitude in itself, perhaps we can become more appreciative of the little things that are done every day, and eventually this will lead us to a more positive change.