Young Women in Excellence: Integrity- Attitude of Gratitude

Month: November

Value of the Month: Integrity

Color: Purple

Value Experience: Personalized #8 "Learn about the value of being grateful and

keep a Gratitude Journal for two weeks.

Write 5 things each day of what you are grateful for.

Do not repeat any item on your list from day to day.

You must think of something new."

Menu:

Sugar Cookies w/ Purple Icing & White Sprinkles

Purple Hawaiian Punch

Purple Grapes

Everyone dressed up again! We've decided to make this a tradition.

Every month they dress in the color of the value experience! They love it.

Here are the pictures of our girls, just to get it out of the way. :)

Prior to the Mutual: Ask the girls to bring their Young Women Journal. If they don't have one, you can build in making a journal (see below). Also, ask one of the girls to read the story of the Ten Lepers in Luke 17 and be ready to retell it to the girls.

Object Lesson: (From Mormon Share)... When the girls first arrived they were given a pebble to put in their shoe and a candy cane to eat while they mingled with the friends and during opening exercises.

The girls mingled, we had Opening Exercises with the Young Men (Opening Song: Count Your Many Blessings), we took fun pictures... all while the girls were hobbling around with a pebble in their shoe and eating their candy cane. The girls then all took their seats.

Gratitude Definition: I asked the girls what they thought the definition of Gratitude was...

Definition (from Webster's Dictionary): "the state of being grateful.... feeling or showing thanks to someone for some helpful act... appreciative of benefits received."

Ask these questions:

"Why is it important to be grateful?"

"Who does it benefit" (both people, you and the person/thing you are grateful to)

Object Lesson Define: I asked them what were their thoughts about our object lesson at the beginning. All their responses were how bad the rocks in their foot hurt and "can we pleeeease take them out?" And not one of the girls said how good their candy cane was and how thankful they were. I then pointed out that sometimes we cannot recognize our sweet blessing because we are dwelling on the "pebble in our shoe."

Sometimes we are like the pessimists of the world, only seeing the glass as half empty, rather than half full (You could actually do this as an object lesson if you want). I explained how when we are grateful we receive more things to be grateful for.

I asked them, "How do you feel when you have put a lot of work into a gift and when you give it to the person, they only nonchalantly thank you or don't even thank you at all?" (They all answered, "That stinks!" Or "I'd be hurt.") "Do you think you'd put as much effort into their gift the next time?" (No.)

On the flip side: "How do you feel when someone makes a big deal about a gift you've given them?" "Do you want to keep doing things for them?" (Yes!) Well, that is how your parents, your friends, your teachers, random people on the street, and even God feel when you aren't thankful for all they've given you. If you aren't grateful for things, they don't want to keep giving to you. If you are grateful, you will begin receiving more positivity and more from others and God.

The Glass is Half Full

Luke 17: I had the girl tell about the story of the Ten Lepers in Luke 17. Jesus had healed them all but only one came back to thank Him. Jesus then said "There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole).

I explained to the girls that yes, even if you don't say thank you, life will go on. You will still have positive things happen to you, but when you have faith in God and thank Him for things, you will be made whole. If they are struggling at school, or struggling with depression or sadness, or confusion for their life, or any other problem. If they can just be grateful for what they do have, and not focus on the bad too much, God and Christ will make them whole. They will help them find answers.

Read this quote: "Like the leprosy of yesteryear are the plagues of today. They linger; they debilitate; they destroy. They are to be found everywhere. Their pervasiveness knows no boundaries. We know them as selfishness, greed, indulgence, cruelty, and crime, to identify but a few. Surfeited with their poison, we tend to criticize, to complain, to blame, and, slowly but surely, to abandon the positives and adopt the negatives of life." [An Attitude of Gratitude, Thomas S. Monson, Ensign April 1992]

Another quote from the same talk: "We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues."

Another object lesson: (We didn't have time for this but it's a great one if you want to do it.

Web of Gratitude
KRISTIN W. BELCHER
Ensign June 2006
________________________________________
We feel it is important for our family to visualize the many things we are grateful for. A simple activity that helps us to remember our blessings is called “the gratitude web.” One person holds a ball of yarn or string and identifies one thing for which he is thankful. Holding onto part of the yarn, he then tosses the yarn ball to someone else in the circle. That person then repeats the process, also holding onto a portion of the yarn. The activity continues until everyone has had at least one turn. Depending on the size of your family, you may want to play several times until a web is formed, connecting the group. Sometimes life’s challenges can hinder our ability to focus on our blessings. Activities and lessons that help us realize how much Heavenly Father loves us can bless us individually and as families.

Gratitude Journal

This concept of a Gratitude Journal is one that I first heard of from Sarah Ban Breathnach but I have seen many times since. I read to them from her book Simple Abundance, A Dailybook fo Comfort and Joy.

"While many tools I give you will help you become happier and more content and will nurture your creativity, this first tool could change the quality of your life beyond belief: it's what I call a daily gratitude journal. I have a beautiful blank book and each night before I go to bed, I write down five things that I can be grateful about that day. Some days my list will be filled with amazing things, most days just simple joys."

I then told them, this is your value experience mission… Your task is to keep a Gratitude Journal for 2 weeks. Each night write 5 things you are grateful for. Easy, right? The catch? You cannot repeat anything you've written down. Why do you think this is? (Let them answer). Then say something like “because once you get the typical, but still great, things you are thankful for (family, friends, church, school, house), you’ll have to start getting really creative and seeing the little things you are grateful for, things you might normally overlook. What are some things you think you are grateful for but you might overlook each day? (Some of our answers were: mom making dinner, the flowers, the bus driver, toilet paper). After the 2 weeks, write online or in your journal how you felt about this activity, whether it changed you and then bring your Gratitude Journal to show one of your leaders. Then you will get your jar.

Having an attitude of gratitude is a complete attitude shift. Sometimes it’s really hard when things are going wrong. But choosing to have a happy attitude about things is something that will change your life

We had asked each girl to bring their camp journal because they already had one, but if you needed your Young Women to make a journal, this is what I did. It’s the typical Composition Notebook covered with paper then print the words “Gratitude Journal”, cut it out then paste it on the front. On the inside I pasted cutouts of gratitude quotes you’ll see below. I've made these for my Visiting Teachers but I forgot to take a picture.

At that time, we had them write their first entry. They each took a few moments to write 5 things they were thankful for.

End with this Quote and Bear Your Testimony:

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.

Melody Beattie