First of all, I want to acknowledge that it has been two and half months since I last posted to this blog. 🙂 I had gotten into a great habit of posting about once a week and then my book launched on August 28th (the date of my last post). Needless to say I have been a little busy the past few months and blogging has not happened. I am so grateful and excited with all of the wonderful stuff that has happened in the past few months with the launch of my book. Thanks to all of you who have bought the book and supported the launch! I am re-committing to blogging at least once a week and have lots of thoughts, ideas, books, and action ideas to share. Thanks for being patient and reading my blog! Now, onto this post…
Next week when you sit down for Thanksgiving dinner with your family or friends, you will probably do some version of one of my favorite holiday rituals – “gratitude sharing.” Everyone will go around the table and say something they are grateful for. It is wonderful that we take this time to give thanks and express our appreciation for the “good stuff” in life. However, why don’t we do this more often?
We seem to have many unwritten rules about public gratitude and appreciation in our society. One of these rules is that expressions of thankfulness and appreciation should come only at “appropriate” times. Thanksgiving is one of these acceptable times, which is why many of us take the time and feel at least somewhat comfortable expressing our gratitude out loud. Birthdays, holidays, weddings, retirement parties, awards banquets, and other events or activities also fall into this acceptable category.
What if expressing our thankfulness was a regular, everyday occurrence? What if we had “Thanksgiving” all the time? The same good feelings that we generate sitting around the dinner table at Thanksgiving could be generated on July 17th, April 2nd, October 28th or on any other day throughout the year. We could express our gratitude every Wednesday, every other Tuesday, or every single day for that matter. There is an endless supply of things for us to be grateful for. It is simply a matter of what we focus on and what we choose to talk about. If we take time on a regular basis to focus on what we are grateful for and have the courage to express it out loud, we can have Thanksgiving all the time!
Today, a week before the big day, spend some time thinking about, talking about, and focused on what you are grateful for. And, if you feel inspired, do the “gratitude sharing” ritual at dinner tonight and all week…and then keep doing it every night after Thanksgiving as well. Have fun!
With Gratitude,
Mike
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