When I was 14 years old and afraid of practically everything, my music teacher came up to me during class out of the blue and told me, “I am so grateful that a kid like you is in this program.” At the time, I didn’t really understand what he meant, but I held onto the idea that hopefully I would be able to live up to the way he talked about me. Here I am three years later, getting to say all the long hours and hard work I put into our music department helps me not only make myself better, but to better the kids around me who will eventually take my place. And it all started with a little grateful comment. Gratitude is something we all define a little differently, but can have one of the most influential impacts on our lives when used correctly. Knowing how gratitude can affect you, and how your actions of gratitude can affect others has helped me to know myself better, but can also act as a key insight to everyone appreciating the world around us. To begin, the importance of seeing how gratitude affects you personally is key. Looking …show more content…
In “Five Science-Backed Strategies for Happiness” Kira M. Newman expands on the importance of others in our lives when she explain, “Giving can be an opportunity to make connections with the people you’re helping.” (Newman). These connections are so vitally important. When you associate something positive like giving or kindness with a person it can lead to you also trusting that person more and believing in what they say. Because of how important connection is, my music director was able to not only connect with me by showing me some gratitude and kindness, but he was also able to build on a relationship and make me trust him more, which is part of the reason I think his students love him so much. At the end of the day he knows the benefits of the nice words he says or the actions he does and uses it to better himself in his