Everyday is for Thanks

Gratitude is more important for our everyday lives than it is for the one day out of the year that we set aside for it. Gratitude is often spoken of, and given great value, in the mental health field due to its powerful ability to fight depression. Practicing gratitude is key in 12-step recovery. In AA, it is said that gratitude “turns what you have into enough.” Most religions incorporate gratitude into their teachings and have blessings and prayers specific to thankfulness. Gratitude can promote self worth, provide relief from hopelessness, and requires nothing more of a person than to reflect and be present.

Gratitude gives us perspective. It helps us to notice the sheer abundance that surrounds us, which we take for granted we have become so accustomed to it. There is no greater medicine for hopelessness than acknowledging the presence of clean running water, electricity, air conditioning, technology, a hot shower, shelter, food, clean air; the “basics” we overlook each day. A wise woman once told me, “you can be thankful for the work you have in front of you, the long walk down to the bathroom, and that you can talk out loud about your problems.” It is all about perspective.

Gratitude grounds us and is a mindfulness practice. I can be thankful in this very moment, in real time. I can take 10 deep breaths right now and notice what is good or right within me and around me. It is called “practicing gratitude” because it is in fact, a practice. It is an intentional effort to train our minds to notice the positive which helps to replace automatic negative thinking that is a symptom of, and catalyst for, depression. One can practice gratitude in word (prayer, blessings, words of affirmation), in writing (a note, journaling, making a list), in giving to others (a smile, a compliment, a flower), or by simply thinking, reflecting, and being present. We can be thankful for big things (our health) and small things (a cup of coffee); for what is present in our lives (love) or what is missing (financial troubles). We can be thankful for things both tangible (roof over our head, water/food) and intangible (experiences, relationships, love).

So try it, just practice. Find something to be thankful for every single day, then multiple times a day. Make it a part of your routine. Leave yourself reminder notes. Journal. Write thank you notes to others. Thank your work for the distraction it provides you. Express your appreciation to others. Let's leave Thanksgiving Day for the celebration of all the days that we have given thanks throughout the year.

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." ~ Melody Beattie