Jo Raphael: What I'm grateful for amid the Covid-19 Delta outbreak

The 90% Project is an NZ Herald initiative that aims to reach all New Zealanders to get the word out about vaccination so we can save lives and restore freedoms. Video / NZ Herald

OPINION

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With a lot going on in the world, I thought I'd take a moment and use this column to think about the things I'm grateful for.

Gratitude isn't about thanking people or being polite. It's more a strategy to create a sense of wellbeing, despite current circumstances.

It's not meant to be airy-fairy, or pie in the sky (and I realise this topic is coming dangerously close).

I use gratitude as a tool to refocus, lift myself up and move forward from whatever negativity that has taken up residence inside my head.

It's easier said than done if you are a naturally negative person. If you are waiting for the next bad thing to happen to you, your default setting is going to be negative.

Gratitude, for me, is about using those feelings to focus outward rather than inward.

A quick, unscientific survey of my colleagues reveals some gems:

One colleague is grateful when it's not raining when she gets out of her car. Also, when that same car makes it through another trip with the gas light on and she didn't stop in the middle of an intersection.

Another said she was grateful for her family, her culture and her community.

Another said she was grateful for a healthy body and a happy heart.

I'm grateful that I live outside Auckland, but I'm also hugely grateful for those who live in Auckland in level 4 and are keeping the rest of us safe.

I'm sure most people are grateful for the heavy lifting Auckland is doing for the rest of Aotearoa. It's monumental.

I'm grateful to be able to get the Covid-19 vaccine - that I can do my part.

I'm grateful for the hardworking people who are working tirelessly to administer it to the public.

I'm grateful to everyone who chooses to get the vaccine – it will help everyone, and it will also mean we will have another tool in our belt to fight Covid.

Practising gratitude doesn't mean we ignore the terrible strain some of our fellow Kiwis are under right now, with businesses closing and the economy under a huge amount of pressure. It just means we look at the world differently and perhaps it can put us in the right frame of mind to do something about it.

The Herald and NZME have launched a campaign, The 90% Project, to work for at least 90 per cent full vaccination against Covid-19 in our eligible population by Christmas.