Many of you probably spent part of your time off last week in stores or online looking for gifts for friends and relatives. We want to encourage you to add another kind of present to your gift list: the gift of gratitude.
Tell a colleague thanks for all their hard work. Let a family member know how much you appreciate their support. We want to take this opportunity to let all of you know how much we value all you do for NC State. Your collective contribution to this university is remarkable.
Research shows expressing gratitude not only makes the recipients of gracious acts feel good — it also makes the person committing the act feel good. In October, we asked employees to participate in the One Grateful Pack challenge. The participants found ways to express what they were grateful for and did gracious acts. Twenty-two employees participated in the challenge and completed 90 acts of gratitude from Nov. 1 to 15.
The participants volunteered, sent Paws and Say Thanks messages to colleagues, started personal gratitude journals, sent thank-you notes and warm messages to friends and colleagues and more.
Each time the participants did a gracious act or expressed what they were grateful for, they used a form to describe what they did and how that act made them feel. Here is how some employees said participating in the challenge made them feel: “Warm and fuzzy,” “optimistic,” “more appreciative of my friends,” “uplifted” and “joyful.”
Seven employees received a prize for participating in the challenge. Those employees are:
- Christine Barrier.
- Zachary Baker.
- Haiven Braxton.
- Natasha O’Daniel.
- Connie Fowler.
- Toyette Sullivan.
- Melody Woodyard.
Also, as part of the challenge, employees wrote what they were grateful for on a whiteboard during Red and White Fest: An Employee Celebration on Oct. 27. We took pictures of what some employees wrote. A gallery of those photos is below.
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