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Express your Gratitude!
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The Gratitude Campaign gives participants daily gratitude activities to complete. Researchers suggest that gratitude should be practiced daily. After participating, individuals will feel more comfortable implementing gratitude into their everyday lives. Each day focuses on a different way to show gratitude. Try them all out and see which one(s) you enjoy most!
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Why Practice Gratitude?
Gratitude is the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. When you experience gratitude, you feel grateful for something or someone in your life and respond with feelings of kindness, warmth, and other forms of generosity.
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Research has shown that gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude can help individuals feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their physical and mental health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships. Specifically, studies have shown that feeling thankful can improve sleep, mood, and immunity. Gratitude can also decrease depressive symptoms, anxiety, difficulties with chronic pain, and risk of disease.
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Not only does expressing gratitude affect yourself, but it also benefits the person on the other end of the gesture.
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Challenge Instructions:
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1. Register for the challenge HERE
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3. Complete the daily gratitude activities each day.
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- Prompts and guides available below and HERE
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4. Record that you completed the activity by clicking on the activity tile
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Gratitude Campaign Daily Activities
- What are you grateful for? Follow the prompts below or write what comes to mind.
- Describe a person in your life for which you are grateful for and why
- List one person you find challenging to get along with and describe their best quality
- Describe something new you learned recently for which you are grateful
- What is the most recent situation where you found yourself joyfully laughing?
- Other things to be grateful for include
- Career, health, pets, food, education, experiences, etc.
11/6: Write a Thank You Note
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Write a thank you note to someone that went out of their way to do something thoughtful for you. Write out the note on paper to make it more personable.
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- Start by thanking the person with specificity, for their gift or kind act
- Write about how you plan to use their gift or how their actions made you feel
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Unplug for ONE DAY. You can choose to delete the apps from your phone or simply not open them. Turn off notifications.
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- Try these activities instead:
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Cook or bake a new dish, read a book, play a board game / cards, watch a feel-good movie, or spend time with a friend
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- Use sarcasm, share a funny story, comment on a relatable truth, use a comeback, make an understatement, etc.
- Know what isn’t funny
- Use your best judgement to discern a good joke from a hurtful one
11/10: Call Someone You Love
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- Call and tell them you love them
- Say what it is you enjoy about them
- Let them know you are thankful for their friendship
- Have a meaningful conversation and listen with compassion
- Go for a walk outside and make a special effort to appreciate your surroundings
- Using words or phrases
- Using rhythm to count steps
- Say a phrase to yourself such as:
- “Nowhere to go. Nothing to do. No one to be.”
- Sensory walking
- Bring awareness to your feet hitting the ground
- Listen to the sounds around you
- Bring awareness to the different smells you encounter
- Body awareness walking
- Start by bringing awareness to your feet
- Work your way up the body
- Ankles and calves, knees, hips, hands and arms, torso, and lastly your head
- Appreciative walking
- Simply notice the beauty in the world through the sights you see
- Giving away used items, volunteering your time, or offering your skills are wonderful ways to donate.
- How this can look:
- Donating an item you no longer need to a local organization or charity
- Volunteer your time
- Donate blood
- Donate skills such as writing, cooking, or photography
- Donate to a food shelf
11/13: Random Acts of Kindness
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Take part in at least ONE Random Act of Kindness. Here are some ideas:
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- Pay for a stranger’s coffee
- Hold the door for someone
- Leave a kind note on your coworkers desk
- Let someone cut in front of you in line
- Pick up litter and throw it away
- Find joy in the smallest parts of your day. Take a picture of something that brings you happiness.
- Photo Ideas
- Your morning coffee
- The sunrise/sunset
- Your current read
- The meal you prepared
- Family member or furry friend
- Want more? Create a “happy” album in your phone. Each day, take a gratitude photo. Look back at these and remember the happy moments.
11/15: Give a Thoughtful Compliment
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Make it your goal to give someone a thoughtful compliment today. Whether this be at work, home, the grocery store, or even when talking to someone on the phone.
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How to give a thoughtful compliment:
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- Be authentic and specific
- Link your compliment to something you genuinely feel
- Find a unique detail
- Take some time today to think about what you are thankful for. This can be a great activity to do alone, or with your loved ones.
- Ask these questions:
- What about my surroundings am I thankful for?
- What made me laugh or smile recently?
- What is different today than it was a year ago that I am thankful for?
- Self care means taking the time to do things you enjoy to improve your mental and physical health. Self care can help manage stress, lower risk of illness, and increase energy.
- Self Care Examples
- Go for a walk
- Read a book
- Do yoga or meditate
- Listen to music
- Try a new hobby
- Journal
- Get restful sleep
11/18: Gratitude Reflection
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- After completing this gratitude campaign, answer the following questions:
- What changes did you make during the Gratitude Campaign?
- How did practicing gratitude daily make you feel?
- Which gratitude activities were the most impactful?
- What gratitude activities can you implement into your daily life?
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Did Someone Say Prizes?!
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LOG IN and check off your daily gratitude activities! Those who complete at least
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10 out of 14 daily activities will be entered into a drawing to win a PAIR of UND Hockey Tickets!
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Ticket Info: Friday, January 12th @ Ralph Engelstad Arena 7:07pm
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What's the Gratitude Campaign?
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The Gratitude Campaign gives participants daily gratitude activities to complete. After participating in these activities, participants will feel more comfortable implementing gratitude into their everyday lives. Each day focuses on a different way to show gratitude. Try them all out and see which one(s) you enjoy most! Researchers suggest that gratitude should be practiced daily.
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Log your daily gratitude activities and get entered into a drawing for a chance to win pair of UND Hockey Tickets! You must complete 10/14 gratitude activities to be entered.
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The Gratitude Campaign runs from November 5 - 18
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