Hi Friends!
I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving! This holiday is a great remember for us to give thanks for the many things in our lives we may have forgotten to be grateful for. Spending this time with our loved ones or doing what we love is something we should value every day of our lives compared to one day.
2020 has been a hard year to get through much less process and throughout the year, I found myself seeing the “silver linings.” How about you? If this year has taught us anything, it should be to see and value the many blessing we receive throughout the year, which leads us to explore gratitude at a deeper level.
Gratitude is the quality of being thankful, the readiness to show appreciation for and return kindness. Remember, kindness has a ripple effect and the same can be said for gratitude. Gratitude’s ripple starts on the inside and extends outward. When we generate appreciation from within, we are able to extend it to other areas or people in our lives. This inner working helps with psychological rewiring of the negative emotions and forms new pathways to boost happiness.
Start small: a feeling. If you don’t know where to start with practicing gratitude start small. Start with a feeling of thankfulness. Begin with telling someone “thank you.” Don’t just go through the motions. They did something for you, which I am willing to bet made you feel good on the inside. Now find those little moments through out the day- is there other moments or person that provides that same feeling? Start to recognize those and appreciate it.
Turn those feelings into a practice.
Here are 5 ways to practice gratitude:
- Practice saying thank you to others
- Write it down: journal the top 3 things you were thankful for during the day
- Write “thank you” notes- share the appreciation with another
- Gratitude jar
- Gratitude mapping
Gratitude jar: as a daily practice, write down on a piece of paper one thing, moment, or person you are grateful for. Then on a bad day, pull out a piece of paper and remind yourself what you are grateful for.
Gratitude mapping is for visual learners- grab a big piece of paper. Write down one thing you are grateful for and circle it, draw a line from the circle then write down “why”. Keep going. It will start to look like a map of gratitude.
Side note: gratitude doesn’t evolve monetary value. The older I get ,the crazier it seems that the days after Thanksgiving is Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which are solely based on monetary value. The sales ads are taking over Thanksgiving conversations and even cutting into spending time with those you are grateful for. Now, I love a good bargain like the rest of y’all but I challenge us to continue to show up for gratitude throughout the holiday season.