Thanking You

B Y : C H R I S L E E

In years past, if you were to peruse your social media timeline on Thanksgiving, you ’d see a menagerie of “Happy Turkey Day ” posts and pictures of families and food. In the United States, Thanksgiving Day is wedged between Blackout Wednesday (the second biggest bar night of the year) and Black Friday (the biggest shopping day of the year).

In the midst of holiday travel, preparing for dinners and watching football, the question still remains What are you most grateful for?

One of the things that I’ m most thankful for are the memories shared with - and lessons learned from my grandparents. My grandfather taught me the importance of sacrifice for family. His life centered around working to provide for his family and spending time with his family. My grandmother was a kind and compassionate person, who saw good in people that they may not even have seen in themselves.

If you were to ask the average person what they are thankful for, they might give you the usual ordinary reply:

“I’ m thankful that we have a roof over our heads, food on our table and are in relatively good health. Those are definitely things to be grateful for but that’ s boring! It doesn ’t move me. What about you?

The true nature of gratitude and appreciation serve us in two main ways. Gratitude refocuses our thoughts toward positive things. It helps us to see the positives in just about any situation. Gratitude builds confidence, resilience and belief. Secondly, gratitude strengthens our bond with others. Think of how gratifying it is when someone expresses appreciation for us. It makes us feel good and motivates us to keep going.

One area we tend to overlook is selfgratitude. Yes, there are many reasons to be grateful to YOU. When you ’ ve overcome a significant challenge or navigated a difficult situation, acknowledge your hard work and the skills needed to beat the obstacle that you triumphed over.

Take inventory of your positive attributes. What do you appreciate about yourself? Your ability to keep going, your resourcefulness, your mental fortitude? Keep a mental list of those attributes so that when you “forget who you are ” , as we all do from time to time, you can easily remind yourself of who you are: a blessing and a gift.