Be Thankful For All Your Blessings

 "Thankfulness is the quickest path to joy." - Jefferson Bethke

I love November, because with November comes Thanksgiving. We commemorate the day in America as a national holiday. It's a great day to gather with friends or family and enjoy a feast, and maybe even some football! But it's not because of the feast and the football, but because it's a celebration that serves as a reminder to us all to live with gratitude and thankfulness.

But if you want to live an abundant life and a life of significance, your appreciation shouldn't be confined to Thanksgiving day, it should be celebrated and incorporated into your daily living. It's a choice. Choose gratitude, every day.

There is so many things to appreciate every day. Appreciation is one of the highest emotional states you can be in. We should be thankful for each and every day, good and bad, that we get to wake up to. Thankful for life, and for living. Thankful for the people in your life, and the blessing that they are. Thankful for everyone and everything in your life, both good and bad, both past and present for they all made you the person you are today. Thankful for the person you are, and the person you are becoming throughout the process. Thankful for the strength, determination and desire to do things, and do more. Thankful for opportunities, and the opportunity to serve. Thankful for the big and small things that we sometimes take for granted. Thankful for all that we already have in our life. 

It is important to work on, and cultivate an attitude of appreciation. We are culturally conditioned to focus on what we don't have, rather than appreciating what we've already received. But like attracts like. If you are grateful for what you have already received, you will attract more for which you can be grateful. 

Create good appreciation habits:

Take a few minutes today and every day to think about all that you appreciate in life. It's a great way to start off each morning. This puts you in a great mental state and primes you to be receptive and grateful for all that your day will bring. 

Be grateful for the people in your life and seek out ways to make a difference in their day, even in tiny ways. Intentional acts of kindness go a long way. Maybe it's paying a compliment to someone, or writing them a nice note. Maybe it's by offering some help or assistance in some way. Maybe it's by making them laugh. 

Work on looking for the positive and the good in all situations. This may not always be easy, nor immediate, especially in tough situations. But should always be considered. Was there a lesson to be learned? Did it help strengthen you in the process? Could you be thankful that something worse didn't happen?  If you want to become great, you have to focus on being grateful. You can change any situation in your life by simply redirecting your mind to focus on what’s right about it versus what is wrong. To be grateful can be hard when things seem not worth giving thanks for, but if we are honest with ourselves and take a moment to reflect upon all the things, big and small, that we’re thankful for and do this on a regular basis, that is an excellent start.

Also, learn to appreciate yourself. We all need acknowledgment, but the most important acknowledgment is what we give ourselves. Be aware of your thoughts and feelings toward yourself. Learn to celebrate your wins and successes both big and small. 

Take a step back and remind yourself to be in the moment and to be thankful for each moment. Use this self-quarantine time as an opportunity for us to learn something new, improve ourselves, and to practice gratitude. Take time every day to practice being thankful for everything that is right there in front of us, even when it seems hard, and you’ll likely find that the hard things get easier. 

By being appreciative and aware that we have so much around us that we should be thankful for, we will attract more good things to come our way and you’ll gain momentum that will lead to having a great moments, days, weeks, months, years, and life. Giving thanks should be more than an occasional exercise once year. Let it become a daily discipline that allows you to attract more of what you want from life.  There is always something to be thankful for. Happiness is earned and learned through gratitude. Make every day Thanksgiving!

Make today great!

Curtis

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." John F. Kennedy