Let’s face it. Some (most) of us aren’t going to achieve our new year’s resolutions this year. Sure, we’ll try, and we’ll have the best intentions. But in a couple of months, our motivation will start to waver, and we’ll find ourselves sneaking that extra cookie, or promising that tomorrow we’ll definitely go to the gym.

But there’s one resolution you can make that will affect your emotional and physical health, is easy, free, and makes you feel better instantly. What is this magical thing? It’s called gratitude.

Research shows that gratitude has tons of fantastic benefits (read all about them on this post). Here at Momentous School, our families have previously engaged in a new gratitude exercise by making a gratitude garden!

Each family took home the materials to make their own gratitude flower. (The teachers sent it home during Thanksgiving break, so families had plenty of time to work on it together.) Families were allowed to be as creative with their flowers as they wanted to be! In the center of each flower is the family’s name, and on each petal is something that family is grateful for.

After they made their flowers, each student brought them back to school and we’ve filled a hallway with our gratitude garden. It is impossible to walk down that hall without smiling!

So this new year, we hope you keep all your resolutions, but if you only keep one, remember to take a moment to think of something you’re grateful for. You will get an instant smile on your face.