A Lesson in Gratitude Kris Pikaart

from Gallup Journey Magazine - November 2022

The Center for American Values In Pueblo, Colorado

Gratitude A Lessonin

By Kris Pikaart

I am trying out a few new things this year, having done the same job for nearly 20 years. One of those things is stepping into being a high school counselor. It has been a bit of a curve, learning to relate to and talk to teenagers. I find them incredibly interesting, funny and intriguing. I am regularly deeply moved by hearing the stories of the challenges that they face at home and at school. I love to watch them move around the hallways–complicated social interactions happening all day every day. It is not always easy to find the keys to unlock those complicated minds, but it is interesting to start to learn how.

They taught me good lesson this week during chapel. Some kids enjoy chapel time, and some of them sit through it unwittingly. This week we had a speaker who was talking about gratitude–about what it means to be grateful even in the midst of really hard circumstances. She talked for a little while, and then she asked the kids to raise their hands and talk about what they are grateful for. Not what they THINK they should be grateful for, but what they actually, specifically feel a welling up of gratitude for.

The speaker was visiting from a part of the country where kids talk a lot more than they do here, so I felt a

little nervous for her. I worried that she didn’t know that this was asking a bit much from these kids–a pretty quiet bunch. There was a short awkward silence, before a boy in the front raised his hand. Into the microphone he told every how proud of himself he is that he could run cross-country. Then another hand went up. This one told everyone that he was relieved that his depression was better and that he could help other people with theirs. The next: for the friend who picks a little flower for her every morning. The next: for the kid who makes a small little drawing just to cheer her up. And then it went on and on. Hands shooting up all over the room, the speaker running around with the microphone from one side of the room to the other. Grateful for this friend, for that friend. For the little brother. For a classmate whose birthday it was. For a stuffed dinosaur who goes to class with them. For a teacher. For all of the teachers.

The room just became more and more alive. From the quiet, serious faces at the beginning of chapel, the room swelled with joy and laughter. It felt great. I couldn’t stop smiling afterwards. I think almost everyone in the room was smiling. It was like someone pumped a whole bunch of nitrous oxide into the room.

And it reminded me again of something that I know. Something that we all know. Real gratitude–not the canned and forced kind, but the kind that just swelled up out of us–is absolutely contagious. It changes us, and in turn it changes the people around us. It nearly changes the quality of the air around us. It is palpable.

We know it. We all know it. The unexpected, heartfelt thanks of another bolsters us up. Gives us a shot of oxygen for the tired soul. Gratitude is a double gift. It raises our own spirits when we feel it and say it aloud. And then it also does the same for the people around us. It’s a little miraculous, actually. If teenagers can express their deep, sweet places of gratitude, so can we adults. Let’s all try and see if we can change the very air in a room.