During the business of the holiday season coming…please take time, each day to think about or write down 3 things you are grateful and or thankful for.  Focus on what you are doing right, good choices you are making and positive things that can fuel your spirit and uplift your soul. This is a practice of gratitude.  It seems like this is instinctual, and a waste of time…but, are you demonstrating that attitude of being grateful?  Or are you complaining about the busy season coming, dreading the days ahead or just feeling exhausted?  Well, this intentional practice can help you build resilience as you look for the good, the positive and what can be easily missed as we whisk from Thanksgiving to the next celebration. As we drag our tired bodies inside and miss the fluttering of a leave, the sunshine in the fields or even a scent of pumpkin spice or hot chocolate in the air.

Being intentionally grateful is a good practice for us all to remember.  It can improve mood and how you feel.  This has been well documented research on this topic by Duke University and several other agencies.  The practice of gratitude is commonly used as the first step to bring people back from burn-out, so why not try it? Even if something isn’t right at this moment and you don’t feel like being grateful; think about it as a refresh, we can all use that! I know I sure can! Let your focus on gratitude recharge you as it changes you.  Without even trying, you train your mind to look for the little things, and take less for granted. Having the attitude of gratitude transforms your thoughts and eventually your actions. 

Journaling what you are grateful for is a great practice to get into individually or as a family…maybe you write what you’re grateful for in a notebook at the dinner table; everyone shares something that they are grateful for; thankful for; or proud of.  Maybe sharing the best part of their day in a journal that you leave on the counter if you’re too busy to sit together for a meal daily.  When you do get together, you can read from this log and share what you’ve seen or felt. This is a perfect time to start this practice with Thanksgiving coming up quickly!

Having that positive mentality of gratitude will transform your mind, body, and your soul.  Sharing them with others can make mealtime an enjoyable experience…taking the stress of the day and pushing it out with thoughts of gratitude.    This will not only refresh you, but it can help everyone focus on positivity.   We all have stuff wrong with us and have tough stuff going on.   Talk about those things too, but the focus of gratitude can build on what is good…and fuel the biochemical activity of the body that way…verses with the hormones of stress and negativity!

When we are grateful, we will feel better and want to be better!

Here are a few ideas that you can use to document gratitude:

A fun ladder with colorful fall cut outs or use colorful strips of paper in a jar! 

Make the practice of gratitude fun and a family affair!

Cut colorful strips of paper to write what you are grateful for on and put them in a decorated container.