VIRTUE OF THE MONTH
GRATITUDE
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Mircosoft Word – October Virtue Speech on Gratitude
Powerpoint – October – Gratitude
Hey when I say Student, you say Leader (x2)
So put your right hand straight up in the air, and give yourself a pat on the opposite shoulder. Because that what you are. A student leader. And you’ve been chosen to come here to represent your school.
So turn to two people beside you, give them a high five and say, “I am a Leader”.
Okay, what month is it today? OCTOBER
And what is the virtue of the month? GRATITUDE
And one the best ways to show your gratitude is to be grateful for all the numerous blessings that God has brought into your life.
Sometimes it’s easier said than to be done. So to help keep me in check, I remember these 5 words. What you focus on expands.
On the count of 3, I want you to say these words on the screen. 1, 2, 3……WHAT YOU FOCUS ON EXPANDS.
Because if I’m truly grateful for all of life’s blessings, I try to eliminate the negative by accentuating the positive. In other words, if I want positivity to expand in my life, that’s where my focus needs to be. Because, what you focus on………..EXPANDS.
So I try to achieve this in 3 ways.
Number One. I monitor my language and the way I communicate. Let me show you, I’ll say the negative, you say the positive opposite.
Good Bad
Sad Happy
Problems Solutions
Can’t Can
Pessimistic Optimistic
See that’s easy. But people use negative language all the time.
They say things like:
What’s the worst case scenario?
There’s too many obstacles?
No problem (NP).
But if we’re focusing on the positive, because remember what you focus on expands, then your language should reflect that.
So let’s look at these statements again.
Instead let’s rephrase in the postive………..you read them as they come up on the screen.
What’s the best case scenario?
Let’s focus on the solutions.
My pleasure (MP).
Even when we tell people what we do, we often use the negative, versus using positive language.
We say things like, Don’t forget to bring………when we should be saying, Remember to bring.
This is my daughter Chase. And I try to remember this when I speak to her too. So instead of telling her what NOT to do, “Chase stop crying”, I’m trying to remember to tell her what she should do…..so instead I say, “Chase, breath.”
So that’s number one, MONITOR YOUR LANGUAGE.
Number two: HAVE AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE – In short, count your blessings. We have so much to be grateful for. And to help remind myself that, I carry a rock with me every day. It’s a gratitude rock. And every time I touch it, I think of thank God for one of the many blessings in my life. For instance, this morning when I touched it and put it in my pocket, I said to God, “Thank you for Sunday. I had an awesome time salmon fishing and playing golf with my dad.”
So every time I touch it, I say thanks things like, “Thank you God for healthy beautiful daughter, or thank you God for amazing teachers and students that support Catholic Student Leadership, or thank you God for One Direction (I’ve actually never said that). I actually have a few gratitude rocks…..
So that’s number 2 – ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE.
Number three. BE OPTIMISTIC. Whenever I feel down, I remember this story:
READ STORY.
So let’s do a quick review:
October’s virtue of the month is………….GRATITUDE
And to show your gratitude, you should eliminate the negative by accentuating the POSITIVE.
Because, what you focus on EXPANDS.
So you should do these 3 things.
Number 1 – Monitor your language (good, speak in the positive)
Number 2 – Have an attitude of gratitude (yes, count your blessings)
Number 3 – Be Optimisitic – because if you can be any better, you’d be twins.
Awesome. As a parting gift for you all today, to show our thanks for your commitment to Catholic Student Leadership. Everyone get’s their own gratitude rock.
So thank you for listening and thank you for being a part of E-CSLIT. I’m truly grateful for your presence.
Catholic Student Leadership 
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