Gratitude

How to survive Thrive During the Holiday Season.

Some of you might be thinking, there is no way that I'm going to thrive over the next four weeks! For many, it's going to be a very difficult time and you might not know how you’re going to get through it. And if that's you, that's okay. Even if only one of the things I share helps you get through it, that’s a good thing.

However, if you're looking to thrive during the holiday season, I invite you to tap into two, three or more of the things I share.  This is a very strange and different time in our lives, as we navigate a global pandemic. How can we create a holiday season to remember?

 

It's my favorite time of the year! No, I don't drink Pumpkin Spiced Lattes but I do love fall and the month of October and November. With Canadian ...

The beginning of September brings with it early fall weather and of course, back to school. It’s traditionally a time where parents and grand-parents share photos of their little one(s) heading to school, some for the first time and others for the last time. And this year, the decision to head back to school has never been more complicated. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, families are faced with some of the most difficult choices ever when it comes to educating their kids.

A Recipe for Simple Gratitude (a short poem)

Ingredients for a grateful day:

About a month before the pandemic hit in North America, my husband started a new side gig. He began streaming his video game play on Twitch TV. When he first started this, I was definitely not on board. I didn’t understand what exactly he was doing and I thought it was a waste of time. My husband has been playing videos games since he was a teen, and he’s really good at them. He had tried this ‘streaming’ thing before and it had been a major point of contention in our relationship. I didn’t want to lose my husband to online gaming.

How can we teach our children to be grateful? Many of us struggle with this. I'm sharing my strategies for teaching gratitude at any age in this post. These strategies take little time to execute and are easy to start. Let's work together to create an attitude of gratitude for everyone in our family.

One of the most difficult things we’re facing during the pandemic is the ability to remain friends and stay amicable with family when our opinions are polarizing. It’s not the first time we're faced with a difference in opinion from those we love, however we’ve become used to not bringing up our different political opinions at a family dinner. We know our friends well enough to avoid sensitive topics.

What's different is that during the pandemic, some of us feel comfortable sharing our opinions publicly. Sharing articles, scientific papers, blog posts, or YouTube videos that have polarizing views is adding fuel to the fire. I've seen friends posting things on Facebook without thinking and this can create irreparable damage in our relationships.

Over the weekend, my husband Dan and I recorded a podcast together. We had a great discussion on how we have both seen our online businesses grow during the pandemic, and how gratitude has played an important role. You can listen to the podcast here: bit.ly/GrowYourOnlineCommunityWithGratitude

Dan has been building his online business as a video game streamer on Twitch TV since the end of January. Within a few months of starting his new business, we were in a global pandemic, and for many businesses this has led to a complete shut-down.  Thankfully for Dan, more and more people are looking for ways to be entertained and connect online. Much our surprise - his business has doubled every month since he started. In our conversation we share what goes on behind the scenes while building a community and a business online. This blog is inspired by our podcast.

When the pandemic was announced back in March, I thought we would be ok. I already work from home, running several online businesses. My 9 year-old daughter is home as well, and we choose to unschool. My husband's work is easily done from home too. And he had already started his side gig of streaming on Twitch TV before the pandemic. We were set. After I got over the initial shock of the first two weeks, I got into a rhythm and found myself really, really busy. Busier than I have been in years. Both of my businesses growing and my husband's side gig growing too. It all felt really amazing. Until it didn't. Because right now, I'm so fukcing tired.

We are living through one of the most difficult global crises in our lifetime. Every day we are seeing reminders to be grateful in the face of adversity. Several years ago, I went through a life-threatening infection that changed the way I look at every day. I choose to wake up with gratitude, as I know first-hand that tomorrow is not promised. Here is the story of how I survived my second miscarriage.

We are seeing a Tsunami of Gratitude all over the world

There has never been a time such as this in our lifetime:

Our Facebook feeds are full of thankful memes.

Flight crews are being called heroes.

Superman has passed on his cape to the nurses.

The first and most important thing on my list is to protect my mindset. I've been a student of the self-help movement for over a decade. For years, I've avoided the news and fed myself a steady diet of positive, inspiring and motivational work. Like many of you, I've been caught up in the COVID-19 news pandemic too. This past week, I've had to reach into my magical trunk of tools to help me create a new vision of life during the pandemic.