Gratitude can be more complicated than you think

Thanksgiving is upon us, and messages about gratitude are everywhere.

If you’ve read my book, you know I devoted an entire chapter to gratitude. In my experience, bringing a focus to gratitude each day has powerfully supported me to live big, and I believe a regular gratitude practice can do that for everyone.

I could have stopped there, but I have continued to think and learn a lot about gratitude since I published my book.

I invite you to consider an aspect of gratitude, and a question, that I had not thought about until recently, when it was brought to my attention.

What are you grateful for?

It’s likely that you will think that answers to this questions are obvious.

When you ask most people, you often hear, “family” and “health” and things such as fresh food, safety, security, peace, and love.

All of these are wonderful. So are things like feeling gratitude for doing work you love, or for a friendship, or for a gift you received, or for an outcome in an election, or for good weather on a day you have to travel.

I am a big proponent of paying attention to small moments for which you feel grateful — such as the person who gave up a seat for you on a crowded bus, or a smile from a stranger that lifted your spirits, or spotting a surprising glimpse of beautiful color on a dreary day.

The thing I had not ever considered was the suggestion to feel grateful for everything — even things that did not go well, or were hard, or are currently difficult.

Can you bless it all?

You may be thinking, “What a crazy concept!” You might also ask the question, “Why would I want to feel grateful for things I did not want to happen, or do not like?”

I get it. It’s taken me some time to process this idea.

And, I also know that there have been events in my life that, while far from desirable, and some that were absolutely painful (things I would not wish on anyone) that have taught me something meaningful.

Things like that have made me stronger.

Things like that have provided insights and lessons that have made me the particular person I am today, and I truly appreciate them.

That is why the suggestion is to bless it all, to bless all of the harvest.

Bless the lovely fruit and bless the fruit that has been rotten.

Even when you do not yet know the ways you can feel grateful for the pain or disappointment or loss, history shows us that in time, it will all contribute to growth. It is all here, and all happening, for us.

Thus we can bless it.

Wishing you a wonderful holiday

May your Thanksgiving be filled with love and joy — and with gratitude for everything in your life.

Most of us miss some of the gifts of gratitude

I hope you enjoyed a special day of thanks last week (even if you are not in the US, where we celebrated Thanksgiving Day).

Many of us gathered with friends and family and were especially thankful to be able to be physically together, rather than on zoom. We enjoyed lovely food and expressed thanks for pleasures we often take for granted in the midst of our busy days.

The opportunity we have now, with a new week underway, is to hold onto our focus on gratitude — and expand it.

Gratitude go-to’s

It is obvious to bring our attention to feeing grateful for all that is good — from people we love, to food, shelter and kindness.

Focusing that way on a regular basis — creating a gratitude practice that keeps you tapped in to all that is wonderful in your life — brings tremendous benefits.

(I wrote about the big benefits of gratitude a few years back, that you may want to check out. There is also a chapter on gratitude that begins on page 50 of my book.)

Many of us have a daily gratitude practice, and tune in to smaller moments to appreciate, too. This level of awareness — of a smile from a stranger, the offer of help to carry a heavy package, spotting something surprisingly beautiful in nature, or receiving a thoughtful inquiry about how things are going — makes the benefits of gratitude on our wellbeing even greater.

Now, let’s take the concept of gratitude even deeper.

Often overlooked opportunities for gratitude

What few of us consider is that we can be grateful for things that do not typically spring to mind when we think about counting our blessings.

In this season of “blessing the harvest,” we can expand our perspective to consider all that we are harvesting now.

As the year winds down and we take stock, we can certainly bless our accomplishments, good fortune and bounty. We can also bless our challenges, disappointments, failures and losses.

Why?

Because when we can bless it all, we see how everything we have experienced this year brought us to who we are today. We can appreciate the insights we gained and lessons we learned.

We realize that ultimately, all of it enriched us.

This is the perfect time to bless it all

When we feel grateful for all of what we have experienced, we boost the well-documented benefits of gratitude (that are listed in my book). We let go of regret and stop rehashing the past.

The positive energy we feel can be channelled toward new ways of creating.

This not only helps us now, it supports us to move into 2022 with more optimism and enthusiasm. We feel motivated to start creating, planting new seeds, and taking action boosted by that powerful energy.

A question to ask now

As we head into the last 31 days of 2021 and look beyond to the coming year, ask yourself this question:

How can I bring all of my creative energy to my life — to the work I do, to my relationships, and to living my purpose?

We can all make the last weeks of this year incredibly meaningful and look ahead in anticipation to all that we will embark on in the new year.

Stay safe and well, and keep creating.