Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving
Hello wonderful readers,
Happy Monday!!
This is the start of a very special week because it contains a wonderful holiday - Thanksgiving!
I am not sure about everyone else, but I adore Thanksgiving. It is by far one of my favorite holidays! It not only kick starts the holiday season, but it is filled with lots of yummy food, close family, and friends.
What is there not to love about Thanksgiving?!?
Last week we discussed some ideas on how to give back this holiday season while maintaining a minimalist mindset. It's easy to lose sight of our minimalist efforts with all of the fun advertisements on TV and all of the end of the year sales. It is very tempting to give into the idea of consumerism. We are bombarded by it constantly, but I ask you this week to spend some time practicing and sharing gratitude before the infamous Black Friday hits.
Thanksgiving is the perfect time to practice gratitude, the holiday title itself, when reversed is:
Giving Thanks.
How can you spend this week giving thanks and being grateful? This isn't something that should just be done around or on Thanksgiving each year. Being thankful should be done every day, multiple times a day!
Being grateful doesn't cost anything, but there are many benefits of gratitude and being thankful.
As published in Psychology Today in 2015, here are seven scientifically proven benefits of gratitude1:
1. Opens the door to more relationships
2. Improves physical health
3. Improves psychological health
4. Enhances empathy and reduces aggregation
5. Grateful people sleep better
6. Improves self-esteem
7. Increases mental strength
Let's begin to create grateful habits this week and carry them into the new year and beyond.
If you practice gratitude often, please feel free to share your habits and ideas below in the comments, but here are a few of mine I would like to share with you.
-Gratitude journal-When you wake up in the morning, write down five or more items you are grateful for. Make sure to get specific in the items you are grateful for. You will be surprised how easy it is to list of five items, so feel free to write as many things as you want:
Here is a list of five things I am grateful for today:
I am grateful for my family.
I am grateful for our health.
I am grateful for healthy food in my belly.
I am grateful for my warm house that I am currently sitting in.
I am grateful for the clothes on my back.
I am grateful for the clean air I breathe and the clean water I drink.
Whoops, that is more than five items! See how easy it can be once you take time and share what you are grateful for!
-Verbalizing gratitude in situations throughout the day-While we travel through our days, there might be situations that arise that you can verbally, and sometimes non verbally, give recognition to and share your gratitude. If someone opens a door for you, say thank you. If someone allows you to go ahead of them in traffic, wave to them and smile. Say good morning to your co-workers and ask them how they are doing. Someone doesn't even need to do anything specific for you, you can simply walk up to them and tell them you appreciate them. These simple gestures can go an extremely long way.
-Go out of your way and give someone a gift. If you see someone often, or you see someone doing good around the community, give them some praise. Something I do when a co-worker helps me with questions or is always willing to help me, I give them a bottle of lotion and simply say: "Thank you for giving me a helping hand." First of all, this is a very simple gesture that goes a long way, and it is also witty! It makes everyone involved very happy!
-Hand written note-paper notes of appreciation. In the world of texting, it's easy to get in the habit of only sending those little messages on your phone or email. Instead of a text, put a little more thought and art into your words of gratitude by sharing a hand written note. My husband and I are constantly leaving one another notes around our house and at work. Seeing my husbands handwriting and the kind words on the paper mean more to me than a text; it's more personal and heartfelt. These notes don't have to be long, but put some thought into them and leave them for the recipient to find. Have fun with it!
-After your day is done and you are crawling into bed, grab your gratitude journal and add a second entry for your day. Write down five items you are grateful for that happened throughout your day. This also allows your thoughts to remain positive right before falling asleep.
Here is a list of five items I am grateful for throughout my day today:
I am grateful for the ability to spend time with my husband.
I am grateful for walking our dog Riley.
I am grateful for talking to my family on the phone.
I am grateful for cooking and eating a meal with my husband.
I am grateful for the help I constantly receive from my co-workers.
I am grateful for the time at night to read a book before bed.
I am grateful for being able to practice yoga with a beautiful community.
Again, this is more than five items I am grateful for! It's easy to see the blessings you have encountered throughout your day if you simply take time to notice them.
These are just a few ways to have an "attitude of gratitude" on a daily basis. If you live with someone, or even if you live alone, feel free to find someone who will keep you accountable and ask for the five items you are grateful for. You can share your list while having a meal together or even over a text message. On days that are tough, I would ask you to spend some extra time finding items to be grateful for. We all have off days and days that can be hard to find the light, but I promise, if you look, there is always something to be grateful for - I am grateful to be alive.
Thank you all so much for reading this week's post. I am so thankful for each and every one of you reading this blog and working with me.
We are all better together, and together we will rise.
I hope you all have a beautiful Thanksgiving holiday with loved ones, lots of good food, and sharing all of the things you are grateful for.
I will see you all here next week, until then...
Be thankful. Be grateful. Be kind.
Subscribe, comment, share.
Share your story, light the way, make a difference today.
Resources:
1. www.psychologytoday.com/blog/what-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/201504/7-scientifically-proven-benefits-gratitude
Happy Monday!!
This is the start of a very special week because it contains a wonderful holiday - Thanksgiving!
I am not sure about everyone else, but I adore Thanksgiving. It is by far one of my favorite holidays! It not only kick starts the holiday season, but it is filled with lots of yummy food, close family, and friends.
What is there not to love about Thanksgiving?!?
Last week we discussed some ideas on how to give back this holiday season while maintaining a minimalist mindset. It's easy to lose sight of our minimalist efforts with all of the fun advertisements on TV and all of the end of the year sales. It is very tempting to give into the idea of consumerism. We are bombarded by it constantly, but I ask you this week to spend some time practicing and sharing gratitude before the infamous Black Friday hits.
Thanksgiving is the perfect time to practice gratitude, the holiday title itself, when reversed is:
Giving Thanks.
How can you spend this week giving thanks and being grateful? This isn't something that should just be done around or on Thanksgiving each year. Being thankful should be done every day, multiple times a day!
Being grateful doesn't cost anything, but there are many benefits of gratitude and being thankful.
As published in Psychology Today in 2015, here are seven scientifically proven benefits of gratitude1:
1. Opens the door to more relationships
2. Improves physical health
3. Improves psychological health
4. Enhances empathy and reduces aggregation
5. Grateful people sleep better
6. Improves self-esteem
7. Increases mental strength
Let's begin to create grateful habits this week and carry them into the new year and beyond.
If you practice gratitude often, please feel free to share your habits and ideas below in the comments, but here are a few of mine I would like to share with you.
-Gratitude journal-When you wake up in the morning, write down five or more items you are grateful for. Make sure to get specific in the items you are grateful for. You will be surprised how easy it is to list of five items, so feel free to write as many things as you want:
Here is a list of five things I am grateful for today:
I am grateful for my family.
I am grateful for our health.
I am grateful for healthy food in my belly.
I am grateful for my warm house that I am currently sitting in.
I am grateful for the clothes on my back.
I am grateful for the clean air I breathe and the clean water I drink.
Whoops, that is more than five items! See how easy it can be once you take time and share what you are grateful for!
-Verbalizing gratitude in situations throughout the day-While we travel through our days, there might be situations that arise that you can verbally, and sometimes non verbally, give recognition to and share your gratitude. If someone opens a door for you, say thank you. If someone allows you to go ahead of them in traffic, wave to them and smile. Say good morning to your co-workers and ask them how they are doing. Someone doesn't even need to do anything specific for you, you can simply walk up to them and tell them you appreciate them. These simple gestures can go an extremely long way.
-Go out of your way and give someone a gift. If you see someone often, or you see someone doing good around the community, give them some praise. Something I do when a co-worker helps me with questions or is always willing to help me, I give them a bottle of lotion and simply say: "Thank you for giving me a helping hand." First of all, this is a very simple gesture that goes a long way, and it is also witty! It makes everyone involved very happy!
-Hand written note-paper notes of appreciation. In the world of texting, it's easy to get in the habit of only sending those little messages on your phone or email. Instead of a text, put a little more thought and art into your words of gratitude by sharing a hand written note. My husband and I are constantly leaving one another notes around our house and at work. Seeing my husbands handwriting and the kind words on the paper mean more to me than a text; it's more personal and heartfelt. These notes don't have to be long, but put some thought into them and leave them for the recipient to find. Have fun with it!
-After your day is done and you are crawling into bed, grab your gratitude journal and add a second entry for your day. Write down five items you are grateful for that happened throughout your day. This also allows your thoughts to remain positive right before falling asleep.
Here is a list of five items I am grateful for throughout my day today:
I am grateful for the ability to spend time with my husband.
I am grateful for walking our dog Riley.
I am grateful for talking to my family on the phone.
I am grateful for cooking and eating a meal with my husband.
I am grateful for the help I constantly receive from my co-workers.
I am grateful for the time at night to read a book before bed.
I am grateful for being able to practice yoga with a beautiful community.
Again, this is more than five items I am grateful for! It's easy to see the blessings you have encountered throughout your day if you simply take time to notice them.
These are just a few ways to have an "attitude of gratitude" on a daily basis. If you live with someone, or even if you live alone, feel free to find someone who will keep you accountable and ask for the five items you are grateful for. You can share your list while having a meal together or even over a text message. On days that are tough, I would ask you to spend some extra time finding items to be grateful for. We all have off days and days that can be hard to find the light, but I promise, if you look, there is always something to be grateful for - I am grateful to be alive.
Thank you all so much for reading this week's post. I am so thankful for each and every one of you reading this blog and working with me.
We are all better together, and together we will rise.
I hope you all have a beautiful Thanksgiving holiday with loved ones, lots of good food, and sharing all of the things you are grateful for.
I will see you all here next week, until then...
Be thankful. Be grateful. Be kind.
Subscribe, comment, share.
Share your story, light the way, make a difference today.
Namasté.
Resources:
1. www.psychologytoday.com/blog/what-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/201504/7-scientifically-proven-benefits-gratitude
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