Thankful

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I wanted to take some time to talk about being thankful. Being thankful shouldn’t be for just one season or one day of the year. You should reflect on what you are thankful for daily and if you can’t do daily, then weekly and if you are so busy that you can’t do weekly, then monthly. If you can’t do monthly, well then, you’ve got an issue. 

Now, let’s take a look at the word Thankful.

WIKI

• Showing appreciation or gratitude

Dictionary

• Feeling or expressing gratitude; appreciative

Well, guess that’s self explanatory, isn’t it.

Being thankful is much deeper than that one time of year where you gather together for a feast and recite one thing you’re thankful for. Some of you may have a routine down where you acknowledge those things that you are thankful for throughout the year, but if you are like me, it only comes up during certain situations and to be honest, it’s something a lot of us (myself included) need to work on. 

Thankfulness

Thankfulness can come in many forms from feelings, to actions, to personal care. If you really thought about what you were thankful for today, would you be able to create a list a mile long or just a few short items. 

Does it come to you in small ways everyday, when you look at your every day activities? Or do you need a reminder to be thankful? When you watch the news about a young child being saved from, well, anything? Do you think of your own children and are thankful they haven’t experienced that? 

When you watch those offering up their possessions to another who is homeless… are you thankful that you have those items readily available and that you are blessed with the finances to pay for those items? 

Do you need a reminder to be thankful? Or are you forever thankful? 

Health and Well-Being

I read an article recently stating that being thankful boosts your well being and success and after thinking about it, I totally agree. 

If you were to acknowledge what you are thankful for throughout the year, on a daily basis; you realize you feel better about your situations, creating positive feelings about your situation and you position. 

Those positive feelings caused you to do more positive actions, which in turn flow to the people around you. 

Have you ever heard the phrase, “Always find opportunities to make others smile?” Someone could be having one of the worst days, but with a smile it will lighten their mood. 

I have done this to my husband countless time. I do trap him before he can go anywhere. I’ll stand in front of him, just smiling and he will smile back. It brings me joy to be able to make him smile even in his darkest moments. And you can do that for others as well. Not the blocking their way bit, the smiling bit. 

If you smile at one person, it could change the outcome of their entire day. Do I believe that? Absolutely. 

Just some of the items to be thankful for:

• Connection/relationships with others
• Healthy body and mind
• Healthy children and family 
• Positive Attitude
• Position you have
• Financial status: and I don’t me having tons more than you need, this is just what you need, because what if you had less…
• Sharing your smile. 
• What else could you add to this list? 

For Others

Like above being thankful can affect those around us. Showing that one smile to someone can create a chain reaction. Being thankful and showing your emotions for that thankfulness creates a deeper relationship with those around you, even if it’s a stranger on the street. 

Someone may be thankful that you even took the time to smile at them. We as humans need that. The encouragement and acceptance of others to calm the storm within us. We thrive on the connections we make with others. 

When you walk down the street, do you do so with a smile or a frown. I seen some people who seem to always walk around with a frown, almost as if it were frozen to their face in that position and I often think if my smile and warm greeting caused that to change. I know that I have had that change. I’ve been the one to walk down the street with a frown, and brighten when someone takes the few seconds to smile and say ‘hi’. 

Just some of the items to be thankful for:

• Friends
• Family/Relatives
• Those of professions you visit regularly: Doctors, Nurses, Dentists, etc
• Those in service positions: Police officers, Fireman, EMTs, etc. 
• Random smilers on the street
• Who else could you add to this list? 

For Yourself

The acknowledgement of being thankful can change the way we see the world and the way we see ourselves. If you take a really good look at yourself, do you acknowledge how thankful you are for you and the things that you have? 

Are you thankful to wake up every morning? Are you thankful for the ability to breath fresh air? Do you acknowledge your thankfulness to those who go out of their way to make you happy when you’re down or help you when there is a need? 

It may seem cliche to state that you’re thankful to wake up every morning. It is repeated over and over in different ways, but have you really taken the time to think about what that really means for you, to have the ability to wake up every morning?

For me it means: 

• I get to see my children’s smiling faces and hear their giggles when they are finally getting along and playing together
• To hear them fight and argue one more day, just because I can hear their voices. 
• I get to kiss my husband before he goes to work and sleep beside him at the end of the day. 
• I’m able to see the sun rise and set, the seasons change, and creations of the world. (There is a reason my desk is next to a window, I love looking outside a nature, seeing the plants and animals grow and prosper as the days go by.)
• I have another chance to talk and see my family, my sisters and my parents.
• Time, just time. 

This list could go on forever and ever if you really took the time to be thankful for even the tiniest things.

So I ask you, what are you thankful for today? What will you be thankful for tomorrow and the next day? Grab a journal and write them down. Don’t forget, remember those moments.