Thanksgiving Day: A Time to Renew Blessings of Thanks and Gratitude

The holiday season is a time to pause and appreciate all things, people, health, life, special moments for which we are grateful – the tangible and intangible. The busyness of life can take us away from truly appreciating our blessings.

This Thanksgiving can be the start of a life filled with gratitude every day and not just one day out of the year. The more grateful you are, the more likely you are to default to positive reactions than negative, despite hardship or stressful circumstances. Practicing gratitude helps you attract your biggest desires into your life.

“A grateful response to life circumstances may be an adaptive psychological strategy and an important process by which people positively interpret everyday experiences. The ability to notice, appreciate, and savor the elements of one’s life has been viewed as a crucial determinant of well-being.”

Many think being grateful is the same as being thankful. Giving thanks is typically a fleeting feeling and response when someone holds the door open, performs a kind gesture or gifts you with something. Gratitude is expressing thanks and appreciation under any circumstance, even when something bad happens and even when nothing happens!

“Gratitude can transform common days into Thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” – William Arthur Ward

When we stop to be grateful, we open ourselves up to happiness, well-being and deep connection. It is not just a gift to ourselves but to others, allowing us to form deeper and more meaningful relationships.

In several studies, individuals who practiced gratitude reported fewer physical complaints, feeling better about life, feeling more optimistic, and spent significantly more time exercising compared to those without a gratitude practice. People who practiced gratitude demonstrated a more positive affect and were more determined, energetic, enthusiastic, joyful, attentive and strong.

Practicing gratitude may have profound physical effects on the body. Gratitude has been associated with improvements in well-being, mental health, decreased perceived stress, improved sleep quality and less daytime dysfunction. One study showed gratitude practice reduced heart rate and increased an area in the brain involved in emotion, ethics and decision making. Higher activity in this area of the brain could reduce anxiety and depression. Gratitude exercise has also been associated with a reduction in inflammatory biomarkers in the body.

Another study showed people who felt more gratitude had greater neural sensitivity in the medial prefrontal cortex of the brain which is involved in learning and decision making. And more, the brain changes were found 3 months after the gratitude exercise, suggesting a lasting positive effect on the brain and improved mental health in the long run.

Living a life with gratitude can improve emotional support for others and strengthen relationships. It can also cultivate an increased effort to perform acts of kindness.  As a result, expressing gratitude is attractive to others as it is perceived warmth and paves the way for new social bonds and connections.

Being grateful is a mindset of deep appreciation for what life brings even in the darkest or hardest moments. Practicing gratitude brings us to the present moment; it allows us to just be here, now. The holiday season can be stressful and hectic for many but is also an opportunity to pause, reflect on our blessings and re-energize the body, mind and soul.

Gratitude is and creates a state of abundance.  Practicing gratitude can be a catalyst for increased motivation, general well-being, less stress, less fatigue, and more meaningful relationships.

Remember to count your blessings and make every day a day of Thanksgiving.

I am very very grateful for Drew Chernisky, PA, who wrote this Thanksgiving Blessing for me to give to you.

From both our hearts, have an awesome day.   Dr. D