Knowledge is Power

Count Your Blessings

This was a reflection project I had to do for my positive psychology class:

It’s easy to go through each day and forget about the things that happen to you instantly afterward unless they were extremely positive or extremely negative. Because we seem to remember only the extremes, it’s difficult to find something every day that has impacted you unless you go looking for it. What this assignment and the other journaling assignments for this class have done for me is hold me accountable for finding specific things out of my day and reflecting upon their influence. For a week, I sat down at the end of the day and thought of three moments or things that I am grateful for and that impacted my day for the better.  After looking at my list, I found that each blessing could be categorized in one of three ways: academic excellence, environmental influence, and social interactions.

I have always been a strong believer that knowledge is power. I take academics very seriously. I feel like I’m wasting my time if I’m taking a class just to pass it, and not getting anything significant out of it. My academic motivation is apparent by looking at my list of blessings. For the class that I am struggling with the most, I found a study buddy this week. I find comfort in numbers and he positively influenced me to seek out the teacher for help with him and to complete our assignments early. I am so grateful to have met him early in the semester and that he is there to hold me accountable.

One of the biggest struggles I think for any college student is accountability. I consider motivating myself to go to class when I don’t want to a huge blessing. When no one is there to make sure you are going to class, a lot of people find it easy to just skip. Some people just don’t feel the drive to attend classes and struggle daily to go to class. On the other hand, I try to wake up in the morning and find my motivation in learning something new.  My academic drive gives a positive influence to my day just by going to class. I feel accomplished and at ease when I achieve my goals, even if the goal is just going to class and paying attention. I am very grateful to have such a positive outlook on academics and before I studied this list, I had no idea the impact it really had on me.

Another big power I see in my life is purely environmental. I believe that surrounding yourself in positive things will help each day become more positive. I consider environmental influences to be things that are out of my control or happen because of chance or change in scenery. On Monday I was grateful for the warm weather surprise and celebrated by spending time outside with my friends. Warm weather is something I can’t express enough gratitude for because I definitely am impacted by dreary weather in the complete opposite way. My mood when the sun hits my face instantly lifts. As far as weather forecast goes, there’s only so much meteorologists can do, leaving each day unpredictable.

On the other hand, something predictable and reliable that is found in my environment daily is music. Music has such a positive impact on my life and I am grateful to have a library full of songs to uplift my mood. It could be as simple as playing a relaxing album in the background while I’m doing my homework, or a spontaneous dance party in the car. I find that sharing music with others and soothing melodies comfort me in my daily interactions. I often find myself grateful for the in depth conversations I have with people discussing and analyzing music. This week I was influenced by the music I love inherited by my dad and it brought about nostalgic thoughts. I am appreciative to have such happy memories sharing music with my dad and to have these memories called upon in an instant, at the strike of a chord.

I am a social creature and thrive off of positive interactions and conversations with people. This week, it was made apparent to me that every day I have satisfying social interactions. Some people don’t have the kind of friends I have or so many positive relationships in their lives. I never find myself lonely and constantly feel love expressed to and from my friends. I am reminded how blessed I am daily when I wake up in the morning and see my best friends. I couldn’t imagine living with anyone else. They build me up daily, make me laugh, and make me remember what is important in life. I am so thankful to have such an amazing live-in support system.

My positive social interactions extend beyond my front doors, though. My group of friends is extensive and diverse. I have someone to call in any situation but the situation we got to experience this week was a birthday party. In order to celebrate my friend’s birthday, my friends and I opened up our house to many guests and all of our friends for a party. We had never had a party of this size or nature before and went in with lots of worries. However, the night was a huge success. Whether I was catching up with an old friend or greeting a new face with a “Welcome!”, we all reveled in our social abilities. We were very thankful for no party problems and I found myself thankful for every individual’s attendance. My friends truly do know how to have fun and make my life more positive every day.

This project held me accountable for finding the little things in my life that keep me positive every day. My outlook on life has definitely been tweaked. We should always be searching for the good. This assignment put myself into practice by stressing and emphasizing what was positive each day. In turn after practice, I know I will keep on finding the good in things leading to a positivity that will continue to grow.

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