CREATING “🍭” MOMENTS AND EXPRESSING GRATITUDE

I still remember the first Project Work at Amal, in which we were asked to identify our “goals” and the “whys” behind them. And the first goal I wrote was related to personal growth.

“ I often forget to be grateful for the things that Allah has enabled me to achieve, and I focus more on the fear of failure. I want to be more grateful and accepting of myself as well as the people around me.”

Fast forward to today, 11 weeks later, I can proudly say that one of the most important thing that AMAL has taught me is “expressing gratitude”

I got to learn gratitude at every step of the Amal journey. Be it writing thankyou emails to Amal alumnus, expressing gratitude through courtesy during interviews or ending our cover letters with a kind note to the recruiter. But the one specific instance that had the most impact on me was this activity we did in one of our sessions. We were all told to bring a paper and some colorful pens. Ma’am Iqra then told us to think of one person from our entire batch to whom we are grateful, and express gratitude by drawing something for them. The idea was so profoundly wholesome, that I instantly knew this was going to be my favorite activity.

Wholesomeness was not the only thing that this activity came with; When Ma’am Iqra asked a few of the fellows to share their drawings, 3 people expressed gratitude to me for the things that I had helped them with. These were the things that I considered to be very trivial, and when they made drawings for me and told me that they valued my actions towards them, I was deeply overwhelmed.

This incident enabled me to see the importance of gratitude, as well as helping other people. I realized how we can create lollipop moments in other people’s lives, and how important it is to be grateful for those who create lollipop moments for us. I am sharing those drawings here to show you guys how wholesome those thankyou drawings were 🥺🥺 :

This was given by Nageen. She expressed gratitude for the feedback I gave her. ❤

This was given by Marvee, one of the best people I met at Amal. There’s music (because we share the same taste of music), there’s a gift (a gift represents good feedback), there’s sweet messages, and some creative ideas that I shared with her. TELL ME THIS ISN’T THE MOST WHOLESOME THING. ❤

This was drawn by Nimra. It represents a problem she was struggling with. And then she talked to me and it gave her some clarity of thoughts. I MEANNN HOW SWEET IS THIS. ❤

Gratitude is one of the most important values to live by, and I definitely look forward to incorporating it more in my life by

1- Showing appreciation to others (writing Thank You notes every once in a while, complimenting someone’s efforts)

2- Showing gratitude to myself through positive self-talk

3-Being grateful to Allah for reflecting on the things I have every night.