What Does Thanksgiving Mean to Me?

The other day, as we were walking into our home, my daughter shared with me all the reasons we are rich. She said (unprompted):

we are rich because we have a nice big house

we are rich because we have a car

we are rich because we have warm beds to sleep in

we are rich because we have money

we are rich because we have our family

RICH = GRATITUDE

This is my legacy. Starting with my child. Sharing my message of gratitude every day. Reminding myself and all of us that we have so much to be grateful for, right in front of our noses.

As we approach the Thanksgiving long weekend here in Canada, it's my favorite time of year because it reminds everyone to be grateful. I would love us all to be grateful every single day of the year. Often, Thanksgiving is a time for people to remember about gratitude. I love that there is a holiday that really focuses on being grateful for what we have, reflecting on our lives, and having gratitude for the year that has passed. And it's a reminder of all the beautiful abundance has come into our lives.

I invite you to join me, as we go into Thanksgiving, to really focus on our gratitude practice. My favorite thing, of course, is to wake up every single day with my morning mantra:

Thank you for the gift of another day and the opportunity to be of service to others and to make a difference in this world.

I also have an evening gratitude practice where I write in my gratitude journal. This is one habit I have been doing for over 8 years! Thanks to my friend Karen, I now have a morning gratitude practice. We were inspired to start this practice when I read: Make Miracles in 40 Days by Melody Beattie.

Karen and I write our gratitudes on our phones and we share them with each other every single morning. The twist to this gratitude practice is that when we started almost 3 months ago, we started with being grateful for all the stuff that WASN’T working in our lives. We really learned to be grateful for the challenges and obstacles. And now, we are writing about more and more things that we are grateful for, that are positive and exciting, versus the negative and challenging. This practice has really worked for us!

There are so many ways to be inspired to start or re-ignite a gratitude habit. I recommend taking a closer look at my, 30 Days of Gratitude, The Gratitude Program That Will Change Your Life. I wrote this book over 6 years ago, following a traumatic miscarriage. That night, when I got home from the hospital, I was able to find something to be grateful for. I knew that if I could find gratitude on what was then the hardest day of my life, that I had to share my gratitude habits with the world. The book was written, edited and published only 4 months after my loss.

Many of you have already read this book and create new habits. I hope this time of year inspires you to take the book out again and start another 30 Days of Gratitude. It's always a great time to focus on gratitude, and it's even better if we can create habits that stick. The easiest time to create solid gratitude practices is when things are going well. And it's when times are the most difficult that we need our gratitude habits the most. 

What gratitude habit are you starting or re-igniting this holiday season?