Tag: Appreciative

This week we will be celebrating Thanksgiving Day, and for most this day will be different due to concerns with Covid-19. We will stay home but this day will still bring up memories of past Thanksgivings and family.

I loved waking up to the smell of butter and celery as my mother made homemade stuffing for the turkey. My mother and her sisters shared the hosting of Thanksgiving, so we were at a different house every year. Aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends who had nowhere else to go would fill the house to share in food and camaraderie.

Unlike today, the word gratitude was not openly used in my family. But the warm and thankful feelings of being together was always present. I was taught to say “thank you” in response to an adult doing something nice for me. We used phrases like “Isn’t this nice that Aunt Kay made her homemade rolls” or “I love Aunt Susan’s pumpkin pie!” This was our expression of love and gratitude for the good things we were fortunate to have.

I think that being grateful became something I took for granted. I knew that I was loved and that I had a warm house, but did I really spend time thinking about how fortunate I was? No. I probably took everything for granted and I do not like admitting this.

But what I know today, learned through my coaching practice, studies in self-help and psychology, and my life’s experiences, is that the more you appreciate things the more things will appear for you to be appreciative of. And these things can be anything big or small. I know that I feel happier and energized when I notice and give thanks for all the abundance that I have in my life right now.

I know these are challenging times. My wish for you is that you awaken every day with something to be thankful for and that you greet the day glad to be alive. Surround yourself with love even if only by Zoom and be appreciative of every bite of wonderful food, especially the stuffing.

Happy Thanksgiving

Jeanette