Gratitude - Rishona Chopra

I am happy because I am grateful. I chose to be thankful. That gratitude allows me to be satisfied. - Will Arnett

Gratitude is to be thankful. We have so many things in our lives to be grateful for. In fact, everything we have we should be happy with!

We have a home to live in, 
We have goals that thrive, 
We have clothes to wear,
And we have the education to share!

The challenges that we face, 
Are just the base,
For us to become a divine soul,
And reach our primary goal!

This poem tells us that there are several things to thank for! Every happy and sad moment is a blessing, the tragic, challenging moments make you more resilient and mature, and the happy ones are for you to enjoy! 

The food we eat is a great blessing. Not everyone is lucky to get as delicious food as us. All of us have three meals a day. They sustain and nourish us to sit, move, speak, smile, and complete tasks. It is essential to love and respect what we eat for the way food serves us. We often find ourselves grumbling or judging the food on our plates. We reject it unawares with statements like – "I'm bored of eating this every morning, This dish is so bland, I wish my mother could cook better." We also worry or feel guilty – "I might put on weight. What if my sugar levels increase? This doesn't taste fresh. I hope I won't fall sick." Once we decide to eat, let's enjoy the food, not think of its effects. Let's create thoughts of gratitude and love before and while eating. The quality or quantity may not always be perfect. Never mind – we have enjoyed (and will continue to enjoy) thousands of delicious meals. The few imperfections should not change our respect for food.

Food that we eat every day is nutrition for our body. We choose what is healthy. We can determine what is tasty, but if we say we will be happy when we eat something specific, our happiness depends on our food. Sit back, and visualize yourself happy while having your meals and radiating happy energy into your food. We often create a point of irritation when we eat something which is not tasty for us. Food may not be delicious… but happiness or irritation is our choice. Practice today to not allow your food to influence your mind. Criticizing what you eat radiates negative energy to the food, which then affects your mind. Before every meal today, pause and reaffirm, "I am happy and calm as I eat my meal. I energize the food with my happiness."

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

Gratitude - Arfa Khan

We all are familiar with the feeling that life is not as we want; our relationships are not deep enough, we are not successful enough, and we don't have the things we crave. This is the feeling of dissatisfaction, a feeling that makes you at others with envy and at yourself with shame. Social media makes it worse by showing us the picture-perfect life others have, unlike us. We have seen many people laughing and enjoying their lives...but their lives aren't perfect too. Then why are some people happier than others? Can we also apply their methods to be more comfortable and more satisfied? It all sums up to one thing - Gratitude. 

Gratitude is a feeling that connects us with the positive side of the world. There are many ways to practice it, like gratitude journaling, where we write about the things we are grateful for. There are many everyday things in life for which we should be grateful, and we might be taking them for granted, like:

1. Recovery/ Post-Crisis -

Life can feel fabulous after recovery like an enormous burden has been lifted off our shoulders. We can do many things that we couldn't do earlier. Objectively, our life would be the same or maybe slightly worse than before, but we compare the present to when life was terrible and react with gratitude.

2. Our Relationships-

We might feel lonely or want more friends, but there might be one or multiple people wanting to spend time with us. We might feel this is not enough and feel bad. If we're grateful for our relationships, we might accept the offers or take the initiative. Many people don't have anyone and suffer from mental illnesses, but we have many people who care for us.

3. Anyone who means a lot to you-

There might be someone significant in our lives, and we can't imagine life without them. By comparing our life with and without them, we feel grateful that they are with us.

4. Fate-

We have many things in our everyday life many don't have, like clean water and food, money, access to the internet, limbs, eyes, ears etc. We should be grateful for these things.  

Scientists have found many benefits of gratitude journaling. Many participants showed more happiness and life satisfaction after practising for a few weeks and even a change in brain activity after a few months. It's pretty mind-blowing that something as simple as writing about a few things you are grateful for can help fight dissatisfaction. We know our life is hard, but it might not be as bad as it seems if we look from a different perspective.

•  Arfa Khan 

  Ahlcon Public School

Sources:

https://leadchangegroup.com/daily-gratitude/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPPPFqsECz0&t=15s

 

Gratitude - Oshi Singh

You may know the meaning of this nine-letter word, but do you practice it daily? 

The feeling of Gratitude or thankfulness. Do you recall when we were little children constantly reminded to say thank you? Why was that? The answer seems pretty simple at the moment, to show that we care and appreciate what we have. 

Why, then, does this change when we get older? Why does our habit of expressing gratitude fade away with time? Why do we think whatever is happening & whatever someone is doing for us is bound to happen. Why can't it be out of love and compassion? Gratitude is a valuable life lesson and, if practised, can teach us to have a significant and positive attitude towards life. It changes our overall perspective towards life and helps make us and others around us happier. 

We never thank our mom enough for setting up our rooms. We never thank our dad for teaching us something new every time. We never thank our siblings sufficient for teaching us the art of sharing and caring. We never thank the sun and the fine moon for lightening our days and nights. We never thank God enough for giving us the gift of life. So why don't we promise to cherish all these bundles of joy for the rest of our lives? 

So let's practice these small acts of kindness by saying a simple "thank you", "I appreciate what you do", and "I am grateful to have you in my life". All these small acts of selflessness can later be your contribution to making sure future generations live in a better and positive world. 

Oshi Singh

VIII D

Gyanshree School 

Why The Mistakes? - Rishona Chopra

Albert Einstien was once teaching a class and said 9x10 = 91, the whole class burst out laughing, and Albert Einstien calmly said, "I said 9 correct answers, but no one appreciated me, but I made one mistake, and you all laughed at me. This means that our society notices the smallest mistakes but never the good things." 

When our teachers make a small mistake like a typo error, don't all students point it out, but most of us don't even thank them when she teaches well. We, humans, practice always pointing out mistakes, and even I do, but we never appreciate things. Look at nature; we never understand its beautiful branches but point out the dry flower. 

In the same way, we all don't notice what we have but see what we don't. We have a family, a home, a school to go to, books, fancy pens, and clothes to wear, but still, we eye the things we don't have. Like a pair of shoes, we don't appreciate that at least we have feet. Have you ever thanked God for giving you a healthy and happy life? Have you felt gratitude for having a beautiful face, hands, and legs? We think it is normal, but it's not. Even giving birth in this world is a blessing. 

Rishona Chopra
Grade 6
Gyanshree School

Dealing With Disappointments - Oshi Singh

Dealing With Disappointments 

~IF YOU'RE AFRAID OF FAILURE, YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE SUCCESSFUL~

We all experience failure in our life. When we think our life has come to an end. The first time is obviously the hardest. You feel devastated, angry, jealous, and traumatized. You blame others for what has happened. In time you start blaming yourself. Don't think the time and energy you're wasting are worth wasting. These days when youngsters experience failure or when something doesn't go according to their plan, they start believing their life is ruined. They start thinking weird and foolish things. They don't worry about how their decisions will affect those around them. 

Ultimately life isn't supposed to go according to plan, even for those born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Failure is a risky stop where all our lives stop for a bit. We need to learn to deal with disappointments in life because we will face them not once, not twice, but throughout our lives. After all these disappointments lie some valuable lessons like gratitude, self-enlightenment and a better version of ourselves. Failure is inevitable, so instead of sitting and feeling sad about it, get up and try again. 

Like Albert Einstein said, "You never fail until you stop trying".      

Oshi Singh

Class 8th 

Gyanshree School 

Poem on Humility - Arav Agarwal

Humility comes from simplicity;
It teaches us equality. 

Humility strengthens connectivity;
Fills our life with positivity.
 
Kindness, Compassion, Gratitude
Are humble person’s attitude.
 
Treat each other with respect and dignity
And always practice the value of humility.
 
 

Name: Arav Agarwal
Grade: 6A
Billabong High International School, Thane

Gratitude - Kavya Chugh

                                            No duty is more urgent than giving thanks.  - James Allen

Kavya Chugh
Grade VII
The Doon Girls School

Gratitude - Arav Agarwal

Gratitude for me is to be thankful for everything thing I have. This is my gratitude wall hanging. Whenever I feel sad, I look at it and realize that I have so many things to be grateful for, and I feel happy and blessed.

Name: Arav Agarwal

Grade: 5C

Billabong High International School, Thane

Gratitude - Yashraj Sharma

My views on Gratitude.

Yashraj Sharma
Grade VII"
Gyanshree School

Gratitude - Aanya Kumar

Gratitude is a life-changing act of kindness. We should be thankful for all we have. There are some less-fortunate people who don’t even have blankets to wear in the cold weather in winters. It is believed that if we thank for something even before having it, God will be kind enough to grant us the same. One incident stated by Doctor Sibal is of a girl who was the part of a project he organized.

The girl got to know that the winner would get a Blackberry Phone. She stated the same to Dr. Sibal. The doctor had finished reading the famous book ‘THE MAGIC’ by Rhonda Byrne. He told her if she thanked for it before-hand she surely will win it. Before the lucky-draw the girl told the doctor that she had thanked God many times for the phone and hoped to win it. She finally was declared as the winner. 

So, let us take the oath to thank God for all we have got because  gratitude is a vital virtue for a successful life.

Aanya Kumar

Gyanshree School

Grade 5

Gratitude - Anvesha Rana

"Gratitude and Attitude are not challenges; they are our choices."

Most people find it very hard to thank you, yet others can be grateful for everything. We all live a life of peace and comfort, many of us consider food, clothes and toys as fixtures, but they might be a luxury for some others. Whenever we face challenges in life, we tend to complain to God and ask, "Why me ?" but we all should remember that challenges make life enjoyable and overcoming them is what makes them meaningful. Embrace the challenges you face; they are a part of the journey called life. 

The power of gratitude should be understood and implemented by all of us. When we want to have something rather than wish for it, we should thank God for it, and maybe we can even get it. Life is made up of success and failures, ups and downs. When we succeed, we often forget to thank God, but when we are ill or in a challenging phase, we always remember to blame God for all the troubles. When we did not thank God in the first place, why should we then blame him? 

When we are young, our parents teach us to thank everyone, but in reality, how many of us follow this until we grow older? Saying thank you does not diminish our reputation, but it destroys our ego; we should learn to free ourselves of arrogance and treat everyone the same. Whether it is our maid or our friend, we should thank both of them for everything they do for us. When I was young, I loved being appreciated, but seldom did I thank people for their appreciation, but as I grew, I understood that the least we could do for the people acknowledging us was to thank them. 

Cherish every person in your life for the role they played in shaping you and your life; it wouldn't have been the same at all without them. Thank them for the big and little they did for you. There is no word more powerful than a ' Thank You.'

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 9-B, 

Gyanshree School.

My life is beautiful - Gratitude!

Gratitude 

My life is beautiful because of my connection with God. He probably thought I was a bit stubborn but could quickly learn, so he gave me a happy life with few challenges! 

Rishona Chopra
Grade V
Gyanshree School

I have much to thank my parents and God for doing so much for me and guiding me in the right direction. Because of that, I am living this beautiful life happily.
Arav Agrawal
Grade V
Billabong High International School

My life is beautiful because of the little things. It may be a simple dinner with my family or seeing the flowers in my garden grow that might lift up my spirits. Each new day brings the opportunity to do something different and unique. We all are so trapped in this vicious cycle of work and pressure that we often miss out on those little things that matter the most. It doesn't count whether you can go to your child's graduation ceremony or not, but what makes a difference is if you can guide your child when he is lost in the sea. Little needn't always mean happiness; it might be your breakdown before a big performance or your tears when you recall old friends. I have learned that the little things help us define ourselves, and when we look back on them, they just remind us how truly blessed we are. Enjoy the little things because one day, when we look back, we will realize that they were the big things.
Anvesha Rana
Grade IX
Gyanshree School

My life is beautiful because of many things. My parents are always loving me and taking care of me. My friends are my companions and never hesitate to help me or share something. My life is beautiful because of my other family, including my grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles. Along with this, the daily everyday items that I own make my life colourful and beautiful.
Vihaan Mittal
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

I have much to thank my family for everything because of what they have done for me. No matter how many ups and downs we have faced, they have always been there for me. Before I make decisions, I go to them for my advice. They have always been there to support me in every step of my life.
Anoushka Vinod
Grade 6
Gyanshree School 

My life is beautiful because of my lovely family and everything I own. I am also grateful to my friends because they have always been by my side and supported me.
Yashraj Sharma
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

I feel blessed to have caring parents that give so much love and think for me all the time. My little sister loves me so much that she only cares for me. I feel like I have the best family. Loving aunts that adore me so much. Grandparents that give me my favourite books all the time. I am fortunate to have a sweet family.
Ahlcon Public School
Aayan Biswas
Grade 6

Life is beautiful because of tiny and small things we ignore sometimes. It can be a family dinner or dinner with our friends. It can be a morning breakfast or a delicious lunch. But there is one thing I love to do every day: playing. Though my hobby is sports, I love to play with my friends. All the screen times and quality times with my family is beautiful.
Pravar Kasma
Grade VII
Gyanshree school

My life is beautiful because of my friends and family, as they have done a lot for me. If they weren't supporting me, I wouldn't have achieved much. I wish my family and close friends live with me for many more years to keep supporting and standing with me.
Vernica Wadhwa
Gyanshree School
Grade 6

Life is beautiful just the way it is for me. I need nothing more and nothing less.
Avni Kochhar
Grade IV
Gyanshree School

My life is beautiful because I have children of all ages interacting with me every day of my life!
Brinda Ghosh
Principal Gyanshree

On Sunday mornings at 11.00 AM, you can join us for live reading sessions. Best you attend with a copy of the book and experience the Joy of Reading.  #ReadToLead

Be a Dreamer - Shambhavi Nautiyal

Shambhavi Nautiyal, VII-D, Ahlcon Public School

I am a keen story writer and reader. I try to learn as much as I can and remember those stories to rejuvenate myself and not lose hope in the end. I am a big fan of K-pop as the music soothes my soul and makes me feel effervescent. The 17th-century films helped me learn values and set my beliefs.

Reflecting on Chapter 7, Be a Dreamer from the book Is Your Child Ready To Face The World? by Dr Anupam Sibal.

I read the chapter ‘Be a Dreamer’ from the book ‘Is your Child Ready to Face the World?’ and it said that Dr Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream for his nation to be racially equal, and so I thought that I too must have a dream and ambition for my nation. Hence, I have come up with postulation of our country with an optimistic motive. 

My dream for India in 2040 is that we would be free from illiteracy, poverty and unemployment. I hope we shall benefit from all the schemes and programmes our government has launched. The international organizations we have joined, such as the United Nations, are supposed to improve our country’s economic and environmental state. Through this drawing (below), I envision India’s technology and environment both to become stable and sustainable. Nowadays, it’s difficult for technology to be efficient and at the same time harmless for the environment. I also ideate that the youth who go through education, designed according to the national education policy, will help us solve the problem. This drawing shows the time when we’d be thanking our government for forming the new NEP 2020 and joining the United Nations for the Sustainable Development Goals, as the outcomes would be drastic. This will change our youth’s lives a lot.

My Drawing

Happiness - Yukti Kansara

To understand happiness, one must understand that happiness is not just about success, money, or fame. Real happiness lies in gratitude, doing what you adore, expressing yourself, doing good deeds, or more, but it cannot be described in one word or sentence. It consists much in the small term. It occurs every day in everyone's lives, but it depends on how you find it or what you find it.

I remember an activist, Muniba Mazari, from Pakistan. She is disabled by her legs, but she doesn't let her disability come between her happiness, so why we let our thinking and society come between our way of happiness.  Even writing about this is my happiness as our teacher trusted us and allowed us to express what we think about happiness. Taking an opportunity and doing it from the deep of your heart,  enjoying it, and putting effort into it without any pressure or force is happiness. Even I enjoy it from the deep of my heart and mind. 

At last, I'll say it is a choice where you have to decide that it should be in your life or not. We only become happy as much as we decide to be, and if you are happy, you can fill others' life with happiness. Last but not least, I'll put an end to my article by saying, "Happiness depends upon us. Be happy and make others happy." 

Yukti Kansara

Class IX A

The Fabindia School
Image source: https://thriveglobal.com/stories/the-happiness-trend-a-healthy-pursuit-or-an-obsessive-quest-part-2/