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Charlotte Reader / Her Campus
Life

Finding the (Sometimes Hidden) Magic of Gratitude

Sofia Lachapelle
The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at USFSP chapter.

What is “gratitude”? 

What does it mean to “have gratitude”? 

To me, gratitude is about acknowledging all the good, positive things that I have in my life which make me happy – and feeling a deep appreciation for them. You can feel gratitude for pretty much anything and everything. 

I started to learn about gratitude not so long ago after I realized I want to live my life to the fullest. A life of joy and excitement for each new day I get to experience. Having a dull and boring outlook on things does not work for me, so having the concept of fun present in my life is a must. 

This is where the topic of gratitude comes in. The world today is very fast paced; living on autopilot with constant thoughts about what is going wrong, what needs to be fixed, and so on. However, there is a quote by author Tara Schuster from her book Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies, that goes: “…life is not always a list of problems to be solved; sometimes it’s actually made up of fun and ease and beauty and laughter…” I absolutely love it! And that is exactly what I want for myself. Living a life where I have gratitude for the things that I have, are going right, and that I cherish.  

After having this discovery, I began noticing all the magic that is around me. Once I opened my eyes with the intent of finding it, I have come to understand that the “little things” in life are really not so little after all… I began to stop for a second and appreciate the simple, everyday things. For example, I used to be a coffee lover and would look forward to every single morning when I got to have my hot cup in one of my pretty mugs from my collection. I made this a part of my routine: have slow mornings with my coffee. While I do not drink coffee anymore, this was something I felt lucky I got to do regardless of how habitual it was. This is what I am referring to when talking about having gratitude.  

As I began to find other things I felt grateful to have, I was inspired to create my “Reasons to Be Happy” list. I made this list maybe almost two years ago, and I instantly saw my life from a completely new and cool perspective; it brought extra happiness into my world. My way of doing it involves numbering whatever I might be grateful for. Sometimes I am super specific with what I add, and other times I keep it brief. It is one list that keeps growing and growing as time goes by. If at any given instance I find something new to be grateful for (could be even the tiniest thing) ….it belongs there! This special list is a way of me feeling gratitude, as it contains all the wonderful things I have. At any random moment, I will read this list and it always makes me smile. 

You can make your very own Reasons to Be Happy list, or gratitude list, too! You can do it the way I do: keep one single list adding things until the end of time, or in whichever way you like best. Maybe you want to write a new short list of things to be grateful for every morning after you wake up, or maybe you want to do a monthly list, or even yearly. 

This is how I created mine! 

It is a combination of daily things, random things, and things that mean a lot to me, not listed in a particular order. I write things in as I find them: 

  1. Seeing cute dogs walk past me 
  1. Having lunch at a restaurant’s terrace 
  1. Saturdays 
  1. Hugs from my grandparents after not seeing them for a while 
  1. Sleeping in on rainy mornings 
  1. Playing Led Zeppelin on full volume in my car 
  1. Buying flowers for my nightstand 
  1. Signs from the Universe 
  1. Inside jokes 
  1. Writing in my journal  
  1. Chocolate-covered strawberries 
  1. Dancing like nobody’s watching 
  1. Music and my never-ending, always evolving journey I have with it 
  1. Mini fashion shows in my room after a shopping spree 
  1. My comfort movies I watch over & over again 
  1. The tiny bird that visits me by my window (for real) 
  1. Books 
  1. Laughing so much I can’t speak 
  1. My family 
  1. Singing 
  1. My health 
  1. The moon in all of its phases 

My list looks something like that, yet this is something that can be different for every person. Whatever you write on your list only has to make sense to you! These are your reasons.  

Ever since I created my Reasons to Be Happy list, I began taking notice of sooo many things that were always there in the background of my life. When I feel as if I am only focusing on negative stuff, I go straight to my list, and it instantly sprinkles magic into my day. 

You can literally be grateful for anything. If you stop and look around, I have a feeling you will find that there is always something to be grateful for.  

(That last line was kind of inspired by one of my favorite movies, Love Actually, and I just had to include it.) 

USFSP '25

Sofia was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and is a student at the University of South Florida. She is currently completing her bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in creative writing. Sofia aspires to heading towards the pediatric psychology field, starting her own practice, and publishing books on the subject. Outside of her studies, she has a lifelong dream of traveling the world. Sofia has a passion for music, loves reading, acquiring new knowledge, discovering new things, and writing from her heart.