It’s November and ‘tis the season to celebrate family and being thankful. You know what else we are celebrating this month? Gratitude!
I know this can be hard when life throws us so many roadblocks and rainstorms. Yet, despite the roadblocks and rainstorms, we can cultivate a feeling of being grateful in our lives.
Gratitude isn’t something to practice only when things are sunshiny and bright. It’s a practice that must be developed. It’s a practice that will take time to grow.
Why is it important?
If you want to know all the scientific reasons why cultivating an attitude of gratitude is good for your mental and emotional wellbeing, check out this great piece from Psychology Today.
However, I want to share something on a more personal note. When we promote, foster, and encourage an attitude of gratitude, together, as a family, we create a strong force, an offense, to conquer our greatest fears.
We stand as one strong unit of love to uplift humanity from hate, turmoil, and violence. The human fabric is filled with these heavy pains of the world.
So, to counteract them and their effect on our mental and emotional wellbeing, an attitude of gratitude helps us draw rainbows right out of our human history’s darkest and stormiest hours.
How do we do this?
Simple Gratitude Practice for All Ages
~ write 3 things in a journal you are grateful for every day
~ say 3 things with your family that you are grateful for every day
~ say 3 things you are grateful for silently to yourself before you start your day
You can be grateful for family, chocolate, food, soft pjs, a few deep mindful breaths, etc.,! When you do this daily, you will discover the breadth and depth of things you have to be grateful for in your life. There are so, so many! Today, I’m grateful for the color yellow and laughter.
It doesn’t have to be some world-changing list, but your list and your practice will change the world. Your attitude of gratitude will turn rainstorms into sunshine.
PS: The art image featured in today’s post is from Athea Davis’s Today’s Gonna Be Awesomesauce: affirmation + art cards for youth, parents, and educators. To access the affirmation on the back of the art card and download your free copy click here. If you would like to purchase the card deck for you, your family/classroom, or as a gift, shop here.
~ XO
