[ROK VIII Corps] Daily Life during COVID-19, 10,000 Reasons to be Thankful

[Military News] 2021.07.02 [ROK VIII Corps, Chungyong Sharing Thanks 1·2·5 Movement] Daily Life during COVID-19, 10,000 Reasons to be Thankful

To be thankful to the small things in your daily life, I feel that it is even more necessary habit during times like this. Meanwhile, a soldier has recorded down 10,000 things to be thankful in his daily life to practice the sharing of thanks. Reporter Jo Daniel has met up with Sergeant Song Seunghyun from ROK VIII Corps Guard Regiment.

The thankfulness that has been forgotten, types of appreciation to be kept in your mind on the trivial things in daily life.

When you are tired, with all the gratitude you have to hold yourself up, there's a soldier who uses language to comfort himself.

Q. Self Introduction?

I'm Sergeant Song Seunghyun, working in the 308th Guard Regiment under the direct control of ROK VIII Corps.

Q. When did you start writing the Note of Thanks and how many notebooks have you written so far?

I remembered writing it consistently since I transferred here in June 2020.

I have written a total of about 6 notebooks, and now I have exceeded 10,000 reasons and there's about 20,270 reasons.

He had started keeping this record with the hopes got getting vacation (as reward).

By recording the grateful things in his daily life, Sergeant Song gained a healthy and positive mindset/heart to overcome the COVID-19 period.

Q. What's the reason for you to start writing the Note of Thanks?

After I transferred over, a senior told me that I could get a reward vacation if I write the Note of Thanks so I started writing it. However, as I continue to write it, it became a habit and now I am writing it as if I am writing a daily record in my diary.

Q. Is there a change in your mindset before and after writing 10,000 reasons to be thankful?

Although I started writing this Note of Thanks for the reward vacation, but I think of this notebook as a form of comfort when I am tired or having a hard time during my military life.

As I am feel the trivial things that I am thankful for, while I am pondering and thinking about it and as I write it down, it healed me and I strongly felt like I was getting healthier.

A small habit of writing the Note of Thanks is to look at the surroundings with affection. This is why he felt that his daily life is more special.

Q. It was said that you have written 100 reasons in a day on Parents Day? What content touched your heart the most?

I've sent a letter to my mother. After writing 100 reasons to be thankful, I have sent it out as a letter (to my mother) and I remembered my mother cried that day because of that. And my mother sent me a reply, so I thought that would be another unforgettable memory in my military life,

Q. The reason that you have written recently is thanks to the warriors (fellow soldiers)?

The last thing I wrote was my thanks to the warriors who cared for, respect and helped each other during this hard and tiring time of COVID-19.

As I am shy I will not show it to you. This could become my weakness, I am embarrassed so I'm keeping it in my heart.

He participated in the military UCC contest with a song that he made personally to thank his mother.

It was said that Sergeant Song gained a special healing time while making this song with gratitude.

Q. It was said that you practiced Sharing of Thanks through a video?

Because I was a musician before I enlisted, I thought I should take advantage of my strengths and let's add up my strength for once during my military life. So I composed and wrote the song with our 40th battalion Corporal Kwon Minsang, and I made and edited the video personally by using a handphone.

The executives said I really did a great job in making it and it is meaningful as I composed and wrote the song and first of all the song is really great. I felt really good hearing the compliments.

The body and mind which got drifted apart at the age of non face-to-face!

Sergeant Song recommends us to express our gratitude in the era with COVID-19, where the distance between bodies are widened, the distance between minds should get closer.

Q. What do you want to say to the warriors who hesitate to write their Note of Thanks?

In the case of our unit, we are constantly writing it before the evening roll call and during the personal maintenance time. I hope you can write the Note of Thanks no matter what.

As you spend every single day in the military, I think this is the only way to be comforted during this COVID-19 period, when you are tired or having a hard time, is to be able to think of the thankful reasons that you might have missed out.

Sergeant Song who practiced 10,000 kinds of thanks, what kind of thankful content does he wants to deliver today?

Really, there are executives who are here living with the warriors and they are always giving us energy to ensure that we are not having a hard time or tried. So I would like to thank them for creating an environment where I can write down and record things that I am thankful for.

Something to thank for in the trivialities of everyday life.

It is a good task to comfort our hearts during COVID-19.

This is Jo Daniel who conducted the interview.

- translated by @ftjoy -