Triumphant

 I remember reading the surveys of my students after a youth mental fitness class in San Francisco, CA. For the emotions check in and check out portion of the survey, I noticed that one of the students had written the emotion “triumphant.” On another occasion, a student (perhaps a different student) answered how he was feeling. He answered, “triumphant.” What a grand emotional state to find oneself in!

You may wondering, “Where did he find that word?” It’s on some of the emotions wheels I give young people to help them identify their emotions before and after a group coaching session. Perhaps the student would have answered this way without seeing the word an option among many. But I can’t help but to think having access to that word at his fingertips enhanced his emotional self-awareness. This is the power of vocabulary. Simply having access to words that describe our attributes and emotions enhances our lives.

Building vocabulary can be so much fun! You can create a game out of finding synonyms, using a thesaurus. You can make a treasure hunt out of searching for objects starting with the letter ‘A.’ The possibilities are nearly endless. When we help our kids build their vocabulary, we’re helping them build their lives. There’s no better time than now.