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Glad Games and Gratitude Diaries
Aug. 10th, 2020 10:50 amAmongst the vast literature of self-help out there, there's one suggestion I've seen again and again: Keep a Gratitude Diary.
The first time I encountered the suggestion, my cynical impulses kicked in immediately. I thought of Polyanna playing the "Glad Game". Or the "sweet lemon" rationalization tactic we learned about in high school health class. But since then, I have gradually come round to a more measured view of things. Now that I'm out of the workforce and don't have to face the folks who complain I'm just being negative and not being "a team player" if I come up with suggestions as to how we might perhaps do certain things differently, I definitely appreciate the value of the "glass half full" viewpoint. I see how optimists thrive, often in the face of considerable adversity. I see how pessimists, in the face of quite minor inconveniences, become their own worst enemies by taking offence at imagined or minor slights and go farther downhill in the process.
I'm not promising a gratitude diary or a rose garden, but I can at least come up with a rose or a bouquet of them in the form of a Gratitude List for the pandemic that affects us all. So here goes.
1. I'm very grateful that we have adequate financial and practical resources to satisfy all our physical, mental and emotional needs - and provide a few luxuries too.
2. I'm thankful that as a retired person, I don't have to worry about getting back to the office or telecommuting from home or really scrounging for any kind of paid employment at all.
3. Although I might enjoy a bit more in-person and intergenerational contact with others, I'm glad not to have to worry about immediate child care or eldercare responsibilities. No home-schooling duties, no close family out of reach yet top of mind in long term care or retirement residences, no bored teenagers or young adults in the home who are unable to socialize with their friends or hold down summer jobs due to the pandemic.
4. While I don't think I'll ever trust social media in a big way, I'm grateful for the degree of online life I do have. Like e-mail so I can keep in touch with people I care about but can't meet with in person. Like this Dreamwidth account that I use for this blog. I also have ready access to online banking and shopping and various delivery services and I can research stuff online too.
5. I'm grateful for my overall state of health. I have no big life-threatening illnesses. The health issues I do have are manageable with medication, diet, exercise and sensible self-care.
6. Last, but definitely not least, I'm glad that I don't live alone. I have a partner and a cat. I say this as a person who cherishes a certain amount of solitude and me-time - but our living space is adequate to enable physical, emotional or imaginative distancing pretty much whenever we need it. It was almost exactly 16 years ago that I learned that my brother had died - and if he hadn't lived alone and been off work as well at the time, I very much suspect that there would have been some earlier intervention and he would have survived at least for a few more years.
Come to think of it, he tended much more to the pessimist side - always one to make mountains out of molehills...
The first time I encountered the suggestion, my cynical impulses kicked in immediately. I thought of Polyanna playing the "Glad Game". Or the "sweet lemon" rationalization tactic we learned about in high school health class. But since then, I have gradually come round to a more measured view of things. Now that I'm out of the workforce and don't have to face the folks who complain I'm just being negative and not being "a team player" if I come up with suggestions as to how we might perhaps do certain things differently, I definitely appreciate the value of the "glass half full" viewpoint. I see how optimists thrive, often in the face of considerable adversity. I see how pessimists, in the face of quite minor inconveniences, become their own worst enemies by taking offence at imagined or minor slights and go farther downhill in the process.
I'm not promising a gratitude diary or a rose garden, but I can at least come up with a rose or a bouquet of them in the form of a Gratitude List for the pandemic that affects us all. So here goes.
1. I'm very grateful that we have adequate financial and practical resources to satisfy all our physical, mental and emotional needs - and provide a few luxuries too.
2. I'm thankful that as a retired person, I don't have to worry about getting back to the office or telecommuting from home or really scrounging for any kind of paid employment at all.
3. Although I might enjoy a bit more in-person and intergenerational contact with others, I'm glad not to have to worry about immediate child care or eldercare responsibilities. No home-schooling duties, no close family out of reach yet top of mind in long term care or retirement residences, no bored teenagers or young adults in the home who are unable to socialize with their friends or hold down summer jobs due to the pandemic.
4. While I don't think I'll ever trust social media in a big way, I'm grateful for the degree of online life I do have. Like e-mail so I can keep in touch with people I care about but can't meet with in person. Like this Dreamwidth account that I use for this blog. I also have ready access to online banking and shopping and various delivery services and I can research stuff online too.
5. I'm grateful for my overall state of health. I have no big life-threatening illnesses. The health issues I do have are manageable with medication, diet, exercise and sensible self-care.
6. Last, but definitely not least, I'm glad that I don't live alone. I have a partner and a cat. I say this as a person who cherishes a certain amount of solitude and me-time - but our living space is adequate to enable physical, emotional or imaginative distancing pretty much whenever we need it. It was almost exactly 16 years ago that I learned that my brother had died - and if he hadn't lived alone and been off work as well at the time, I very much suspect that there would have been some earlier intervention and he would have survived at least for a few more years.
Come to think of it, he tended much more to the pessimist side - always one to make mountains out of molehills...
