During the business of the holiday season … I would like to invite you to write down 3 things you are grateful and/or thankful for each day.  Counting your blessings is another way to think about it.

Focus on what you are doing right, good choices and positive things to fuel you for the next month.  The practice or gratitude is well known way to recover from burnout, switch our brains to a more positive route and make us better humans overall.

This practice of intentionally looking for what is going right is proven to improve your mood, how you feel, and has long term effects months after the practice is stopped.

Journaling is also a great practice to get into with your family…maybe you go around at the dinner table, and everyone shares something that they are grateful for and you write that down.  Start keeping a record of those blessings.  That way when you cannot eat a meal together, your family can write what they are grateful for in the book for everyone else to read when they get to the book. 

What most people don’t know is that by identifying what you are grateful for allows you to reap the positive effects, you don’t have to share it or speak it out load. So this practice works for anyone, the introvert, the person who lives alone, the shut in or incarcerated. If you are alone for some reason, start the daily practice and wait to be surprised at how life opens and blooms, your mood is boosted, and your outlook on life is more positive despite your circumstances in the moment.

Another way to look the attitude of gratitude is by asking yourself, “What am I truly thankful for; proud of or what was the best part of the day.?” With Thanksgiving and Christmas that can get bowled over with busyness and  commercialism, it is a perfect time to start a practice of gratitude. Carry the practice over into your celebrations and make them more about connection, hope and love; than food, gifts and checking the boxes.

Having that positive mentality will help your mind, body, and your soul. It can make mealtime an enjoyable experience, where everyone gets a chance to share, not focus on complaints…taking the stress of the day and tossing it out!  When we engage in practices like this, it models for your family how to channel stress and focus on positivity.  Yes, stuff happens; life can be hard, but there is always good and God - when you look for it.

We all are broken people, in a broken world.  Let’s focus on and build on what is good… fuel the biochemical activity of the body and neuroplasticity of the brain with the practice of gratitude!  Let’s create new neuropathways and a more hopeful, kind, and grateful world, starting in our own homes this November!