Consider this “Three A” Approach to Appreciation:
1. What do you want to acknowledge?
Sometimes taking the time to reflect on the faces, places, and activities that we take for
granted can make all the difference in changing our attitudes about ourselves, others, and
our lived experiences.
Take a moment to pause and breathe deeply. Check-in with yourself. What emotions
or memories are coming up for you? Next, take the time to write down your
reflections on the printable or digital worksheet linked at the bottom of this page.
Reflections
What do you appreciate or like about your family or friends?
What do you appreciate or like about community (whether it is a sports team, school, workplace, club or place of worship)?
2. What do you aspire to put into practice?
This might include simple actions or gestures that can show this appreciation.
As before, check-in with yourself and write down your reflections on the printable or digital worksheet linked at the bottom of this page.
Reflections
How can you show appreciation to your family or friends?
How can you show appreciation to your community?
3. What is the action you may want to take?
This action might include replicating these feelings of appreciation for people of all
cultural traditions and communities, even those you don’t belong to.
Through personal engagement (such as through conversation or relationship building), we
discover what we appreciate in others, and through these experiences, we learn more about ourselves.
Could you embrace the actions and gestures you listed above for “aspire”? What different
steps might you take? Consider how learning and building empathy might be valuable for
appreciation across cultures and communities.
As before, check-in with yourself and write down your reflections on the printable or digital worksheet linked at the bottom of this page.
Reflections
How can we model or share our deep appreciation for their rich cultures
and contributions to the world with others?