- Timeliness of Thanksgiving, Covid-19 & practicing gratitude
- What is gratitude? Expressing thanks for something in your life whether it’s tangible or intangible
- Is it harder or easier to practice gratitude during Covid?
- Contentment vs. Complacency
- Contentment is a state of happiness or satisfaction. Gratitude and contentment go hand in hand.
- Complacency – being self-satisfied or secure in a given situation, often unaware of negative realities or harmful possibilities
- Benefits of practicing gratitude:
- Trains your mind to place more energy on the positive instead of immediately going to a negative
- Provides motivation to keep moving forward towards life goals (this goes back to when we discussed celebrating small wins)
- Improves your overall physical health
- Builds self-esteem
- Boost immune system
- Mental health benefits
- Improves relationships
- Sets a positive example for your children or those around you to do the very same.
- 7 simple ways to practice gratitude:
- Gratitude journal
- Send a note to a friend thanking them for their friendship
- Take a moment to enjoy the outdoors
- Take turns at the dinner table to acknowledge something you’re grateful for
- Thank your spouse for something they did for you that day or week (discuss some examples)
- Embrace challenges and turn them into opportunities to grow (challenge of 2020 did we choose to grow, learn something new or crumble?)
- Gratitude jar (place notes in a jar of things you are grateful for and take one out when you need a reminder or having a challenging time
