I had no idea that November is National Gratitude Month! Apparently this has been “a thing” since 2015. Truthfully, it makes perfect sense – November…Thanksgiving…being thankful…practicing gratitude.

I would argue that now, more than ever, gratitude is needed. Stress is high, holidays are coming, supply chains are backed up, the pressure is on to “get your shopping done now”, people are angry & frustrated…things just aren’t very “normal”.

But what if we took a different approach? What if we made a decision to focus on the positive rather than the negative? Of course there are ALL kinds of health benefits that come from having positive (versus negative) vibes saturating our bodies. Reducing stress & negativity helps you sleep better, decreases depression, improves concentration & efficiency, & lowers inflammation in the body. All good stuff!

And here’s something else to consider. If you experience ANY of those health benefits, I guarantee your outlook on life (and the holidays) will be much improved. It’s not difficult to accept that someone who feels better is better.

The key is to recognize that you have control over how you feel. Anger is a choice just like gratitude is a choice. I’m not suggesting that we can completely avoid (nor should we) frustration & irritation. But we can certainly make a choice to move past them by focusing our thought & energy into thankfulness & gratitude.

I challenge you to give gratitude an honest try this month. Here are a few ideas to spark your thought process:

• Put up a Thanksgiving Tree – I have done this for many years & it has become a wonderful tradition. Go outside & find an appropriate fallen branch. Put it up in your house to be your Thanksgiving Tree. Cut out leaf shapes (great way to get kiddos involved) in red, yellow & brown paper. Then, each day (you pick the length of time – we usually do this a week before Thanksgiving) every family member writes what they are thankful for on a leaf & hangs it on the tree. On Thanksgiving Day gather all the leaves up & read them at the table before your big meal. I go one step farther & save the best one from each person for that year. It’s been so wonderful to go back & look at my daughter’s “thankfuls” from year to year. Very special.
• Clean Out & Donate – From Sept. to Dec. our family has 3 birthdays + Christmas. So…lots of opportunity for new items to come into the house. When my daughter was little I started this tradition of cleaning out & donating in order to keep her room under control. It worked so well that now we all do it! Clean out the closets, clean out the drawers of all the stuff you don’t use any more. Separate out the good stuff & donate it. We Americans are simply overrun with stuff (I mean…there’s a self-storage biz on every corner now!)…and we all know that “stuff” doesn’t make us happier. Very often we take our stuff for granted because there’s so much of it. To better appreciate your stuff, keep only what you really need. Lots of studies will back this up – simplicity & minimalism (having just what you need) helps us be more appreciative, calmer & happier. Give it a try!
• Give Gifts of Time – Now that you’ve pared down those 10 sweaters to the 3 that you really love, why let gift-giving undo the simplicity you just created? Let friends & family know that you really don’t need any more sweaters! Rather, you want their time. You want memories. Focus on ways to spend time with your loved ones because, in the end, that’s what really matters.
• Do a Gratitude Journal – If you’ve never done one, I encourage you to give this powerful process a try. You can use sticky notes, a spiral-bound notebook, toilet paper, whatever suits your fancy. Your only mission is to write 3 things EVERY DAY that you are grateful for…and you can’t duplicate. The beauty of this process is that you start to look for things to write. You start paying closer attention to the world around you in order to be able to come up with 3 new things every day. That car that moved over a lane so you could easily merge onto the freeway – there’s #1! The grocery store checker that asked if you found everything OK (doesn’t matter that he/she asks everyone that!) – that’s #2. The co-worker who said an especially cheery “Good Morning” to you – there’s #3! And that’s how it works. Now you’re starting to focus on the positive things in the world around you. And when you look, there are lots!

Good luck! I wish you a wonderful start to this holiday season!