The first week I came home from college due to the COVID-19 outbreak was pretty fun. It was another week of Spring Break and extra time with my family and boyfriend that I otherwise wouldn’t have had. The days were pretty sunny and filled with outdoor activities like golf, tennis, walks, and sitting by the fire outside.
The week was over, and my boyfriend, along with my sister’s fiancé, returned home. Just like that, the house became very quiet. At the same time, the golf course closed, local parks closed, and the weather got cold and wet.
An overwhelming emotion of sadness ran over me. On Monday morning, I started my day just like every other day with 15 minutes of reading. In my current book, The Power of Moments, the authors discuss’ the power in expressing gratitude. They recommend an exercise in writing letters of gratitude. I thought back to early this year when our golf program’s new director of operations, Scott Grant, helped our team create goals and action plans to set us on the path to achieve them. In doing so, he gave the example of his 30-day gratitude challenge in which he wrote someone a letter of gratitude for 30 days straight.
I kept thinking about the start of 15 Days to Slow the Spread and how a lot of people are going through a very difficult time right now. And then a light bulb when off in my brain. What if I took these 15 days to spread gratitude?
Each day, I wrote one letter of gratitude to someone who had a positive impact on my life. It was amazing how quickly my perspective could shift, and my personal narrative changed from feeling sorry for myself to realize just how lucky I am.
In a time when we are forced to be so distant from each other, I have found this is one way to bring each other closer. To look at the times that have been shared in the past and look forward to the days when we will truly cherish the moments we have with each other.
On Sunday, when President Trump announced that social distancing would continue until April 30th, I thought this was a great opportunity to continue writing letters of gratitude. We can all think back to people who have, in small or large ways, made a special impact on our life. It doesn’t take much time to write a simple thank you, and you will be amazed to see the joy it brings to your heart.
I invite you to join me on #30DaystoSpreadGratitude. If you feel inclined to do so, share pictures, and encourage others to join you! Thank you all for reading my blogs. I am incredibly grateful for this avenue to share my journey.