Opportunities for Gratitude
Having stuffed myself silly with smoked turkey (a first for me), mashed potatoes, cheese, wine, and loads of other goodies the official activities of Thanksgiving are over but the thankfulness and gratitude carries on.
From Thanksgiving through New Years people are often in the mode of reflection - whether it be what they have or what they really want to make happen in the year to come. While this is great what’s even more effective is bringing gratitude and reflection into everyday. Even if it’s tiny little things that may seem trivial just taking a moment to stop and acknowledge them can be game changing. It’s not just an attitude of gratitude but a mindset and practice. There’s so much to be thankful for and it takes conscious effort to build the muscle and make it part of our everyday.
Last week I came across the Ted Talk by Brother David Steindl-Rast from a few years ago (highly recommended if you haven’t seen it) in which he talks about gratitude and that it’s not happiness that makes us grateful but rather it’s gratefulness that makes us happy. He also says the most effective way to bring gratitude and in turn happiness is to simply ‘Stop. Look. Go’. I’ve been thinking a lot about this and it’s absolutely true. When we rush through everything and don’t take those tiny pauses we find ourselves just running ragged and have a very difficult time to even recognize all the good that we may have. However, when you start to bring those pauses into the everyday and see each moment as an opportunity things shift, the world is clearer, and it’s easy to recognize all that we do have rather than what is lacking.
I’ve even noticed this being back in San Francisco and not always running around on a schedule trying to get from thing to thing. I’ll walk the same blocks I’ve walked hundreds of times and notice new things - likely not actually new but just details I’d never taken in before. Going more slowly and intentionally through the day is a step in the right direction, but I know there’s more I can do to practice and build the gratitude muscle. I was good for a while with The Five Minute Journal which is a simple way to practice gratitude for a few minutes in the morning and again in the evening. It really is 5 minutes or less and there’s a physical book and/or an app you can use to jot things down each day. I’ve been saying I was going to get back into it and keep forgetting and going on with the day. Might be finally time to get back into it and find even more moments of gratitude.
Today I head off to spend two weeks in one of my favorite places on earth - the South of France. It’s been almost a year since I was there which is crazy considering that in the last three years I spent something like 12 months there. It’s a home away from home that always welcomes me back and for that I am incredibly grateful. Heading back to a place that I’ve been so many times it’s about the small simple things that bring so much joy. It’s back to catch up and connect with friends, have a second Thanksgiving, drink too much wine, eat more cheese than appropriate, and wander the coast.
Fingers crossed that I don’t go crazy on the long journey from SFO to Paris and then that I don’t fall asleep and miss my flight to Nice! Positive vibes and many opportunities for gratitude to come.