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Thanksliving 2018

It’s Thanksgiving Day again here in the U.S. of A. Many turkeys and pies will be carved by families large and small. Some will be happy, raucous get-togethers and some will be the kind of painfully awkward, dysfunctional events that ensure they only occur once a year.

If you’re like me and you like to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to start off your Thanksgiving festivities, you can either go to New York City and watch it in person or you can get it on TV. It’s a phenomenal parade with a lot of great performers and fun balloons.

For families and individuals of every emotional spectrum, the question might come to us as a Grinch-like epiphany:

And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” ~Dr. Seuss How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

So, what if THANKSGIVING means a little bit more?

What’s in a name?

It’s actually right there in the name, isn’t it? Thanks + Giving.

For me and so many others, Thanksgiving Day is the official front door to the Holiday Season. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade culminates with the arrival of Santa Claus.

Of course, in days past, this actually signified the arrival of Santa on his throne at the Macy’s Department Store and of the holiday shopping season. There were no Christmas trees creeping into the store just after the Fourth of July. There was no Christmas music playing in the stores right after Labor Day. They waited until Santa arrived at the end of the parade on Thanksgiving Day.

In any case, I like to celebrate the Holiday Season starting with Thanksgiving Day and ending with Epiphany. That’s 47 days of festive holiday cheer for us to enjoy this time around.

But, let’s come back to the question of Thanksgiving meaning just a bit more.

More than what?

• More than turkey dinners and family drama.
• More than gorging until your belt snaps and your zipper bursts open.
• More than watching the game.
• More than a week or two of turkey sandwiches and leftover stuffing.

More than that!

What if giving thanks could actually be the kickstart to a phenomenal Holiday Season?

What if an attitude of gratitude could not only make a new start with family feuds but could actually improve your quality of life?

What if we didn’t just stop at giving thanks?
What if we actually started living thanks?

4 Life-Changing Benefits Of Living In Gratitude

It’s amazing how a simple positive action can change so much in our lives. An attitude of gratitude will have a profound impact on your life.

Living in gratitude will affect every part of your life for the better. Here are four amazing ways that gratitude will positively impact your life and your relationships.

1. It Can Rescue You From A Bad Mood
   • Rather than getting mad, find a way to show gratitude instead. This can be hard if you’re not used to thinking and acting intentionally. It requires mindful control of your attitude.
   • If something makes you upset, instead of reacting in anger, choose to deliberately focus on things for which you are grateful. Doing this can not only mend your mood, but it builds up a mental discipline in living gratefully.
   • Showing your gratitude toward someone instead of getting angry right off the bat will not only fix your mood in the short term, but it can change your relationship with them and make both of your lives better.
2. It Can Improve Your Relationships
   • It is so important to address your problems with loved ones instead of letting resentment fester like a wound. This is the root of so many family feuds. Thanksgiving is often lampooned in movies and TV as a time when people who ordinarily can’t be bothered with each other to sit down to a simmering buffet of passive-aggressive misbehavior.
   • Demonstrating gratitude for the people in your life is a great way to start mending fences and building stronger families. Meeting people where they are is a great start. You can’t magically fix them with your thanksliving attitude, but you can “accentuate the positive” by focusing on what makes that person special to you.
     • Is it their sense of humor?
     • Is it their skill at making some part of Thanksgiving dinner?
     • Is it their adroit analysis of life?
   • Find something you can hang your hat on and you’ll find that their attitude will eventually soften. When this thaw occurs, you’ll start seeing more things about them that you can be grateful for. Before long, you’ll have a phenomenal relationship with somebody who used to be estranged from you.
3. It Can Make You A Better Parent
   • We can easily get so frustrated with our kids. Unfortunately, a lot of us also communicate our frustrations with our kids way too often. This can lead our kids to feel bad about themselves and us.
   • Instead of automatically criticizing, let’s take a moment to calm down and consider a thanksliving attitude toward our children.
   • Let’s share with them the reasons that we’re grateful for them. Then we can take the opportunity to teach, rather than just criticizing. This is a much better way to care for our kids.
4. It Can Improve Your Coping Mechanisms
   • When life throws you a curveball, try to be grateful for what you still have. So many people fall prey to their own perception of loss. It seems like the world has ended until you take time to take stock of the many blessings you still have in your life.
   • When you need to grieve, you can still find meaning and solace in the memories of what you’ve lost while you take stock of how to move forward in hope and gratitude. Love the people you still have in your life and take time to appreciate the sublime beauty of life.
   • Take every opportunity to show appreciation for those in your life and enjoy their company for as long as you can.

Finding ways to incorporate an attitude of gratitude into your life will change it for the better.

Here Are Some Simple Ways to Begin Living In Gratitude Today

We often fail to appreciate blessings in our lives. We get so caught up in the humdrum details of daily living that we often overlook the small things that make life worth living. We even get too lost in our own inner turmoil to experience precious moments with those we love.

Living in gratitude will not only help us feel more peaceful and grounded, but it can also enhance our ability to share love with others.

Start The Holiday Season Right With These Thanksliving Exercises

Exercise #1
List Three Things You Feel Grateful For
Taking some time to identify three things that you appreciate is a quick start to living in gratitude. The list must be very specific, but it can be anything small or large and it can be in the now or any happy time in your life.

Exercise #2
List Three Things You Are Taking For Granted
Take some time to reflect on things that are so integral to your life that it doesn’t even occur to you to be grateful about them.  You may take for granted that you have a loving spouse, great kids, robust health or a fulfilling career. Identify three of these overlooked blessings that are most important to you

Exercise #3
List Three Things That You Appreciate About Yourself
A lot of us are reluctant to blow our own horns, but it’s important to find three things that you value about the person you are today. They could have to do with your personality or things you do on a day to day basis. Pick three things that make you feel good about who you are.

Exercise #4
List Three Things You Feel Grateful For Right Now
To live in gratitude, it is crucial to be focused on the present. Take some time to think about what you can appreciate in the here-and-now. Think about how you are feeling emotionally or physically. Think about current weather conditions or the comforts of wherever you happen to be. Think about the tools you have at your disposal to accomplish things you need to do right now. These are things you should put on your Right This Moment List.

Exercise #5
LIst At Least Three People Who Are Important To You
Take a moment to think about all the people who’ve been a part of your life. These can be family members, friends, teachers, coaches or mentors. Bring these people to mind and consider how they have made a difference in your life.

Exercise #6
Write Out Thank You Cards
Create thank you cards for the loved ones you identified in Exercise #5. You don’t necessarily have to send them. The simple act of expressing your genuine gratitude in writing is truly beneficial.

Performing these six exercises on a regular basis throughout the Holiday Season will help you to cultivate an attitude of gratitude that will lead you to a healthier and happier life. Practicing this type of self-discipline over the next couple of weeks will help you form habits that will enable you to make New Year’s Resolutions that you will actually be able to stick to in the coming year.