The rise of Attitude of Gratitude at CFB Esquimalt

Danielle Yole and Ashley Evans of the MARPAC Health & Wellness Strategy Mental Social Wellness Working Group pose with the newly erected Gratitude Tree at Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Breton.

Ashley Evans, CFB Esquimalt Communications Officer

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“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” ~Eckhart Tolle

Gratitude (noun): The quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

The next time you are at the Naden Gym, Venture Galley, or Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Breton, keep your eyes open for three new Gratitude Trees – freshly planted over the holiday season. 

Brought to CFB Esquimalt by the MARPAC Health & Wellness Strategy Mental Social Wellness Working Group, these trees are kicking off an initiative intended to bring an attitude of gratitude to our workplaces. 

Shown to strengthen the immune system, improve sleep patterns, and increase feelings of optimism, joy, and pleasure, experiencing gratitude, thankfulness, and appreciation contributes to one’s overall well-being. The practice of gratitude creates an internal boost of happiness, leading to elevated helpfulness, generosity, and feeling less isolated overall. These trees allow workforce members and visitors to CFB Esquimalt to actively promote gratitude in the workplace and their personal lives. 

Workplace members and visitors are encouraged to express gratitude on the accessible sticky notes before finding a place for it on the tree. We encourage you not to limit yourself, as gratitude can show up in all moments when we feel awe and wonder, count blessings, feel fortunate, relish in positive moments, and recount the joys in life. While gratitude is an internal emotion beginning with one person, expressing it through words or actions can positively impact others, with no limit to how far it can spread.

Gratitude Tree Notes:

 

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”

~ Robert Brault, in Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Breton

 

 

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”

~ G.K. Chesterton in Naden Gym

 

“When eating fruit, remember the one who planted the tree.” 

~Vietnamese proverb in Venture Galley