Happy Thanksgiving, friends! I hope you all had a beautiful holiday filled with lots of food, friends, family and so much love. The day after Thanksgiving always reminds me that I need to start Christmas shopping, but this year, it also reminded me of something else. I know that Thanksgiving is all about gratitude and remembering how blessed we are and in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, I tried to do exactly that.
I planned on writing a post about all the ways I set aside time in my day to practice gratitude. I considered journaling, praying more, meditating and probably 25 other things I found on Pinterest. I thought I would try a bunch of things leading up to Thanksgiving this year and then share what worked best with you guys. Well, I learned that I’m not very good at those things and my gratitude practice is a bit unconventional, but probably more realistic for most of us.
Being a Mom, wife, business owner, friend, etc. is undeniably rewarding, but it doesn’t come without its fair share of struggles. It’s easy to get caught up in how much is expected of us, the amount of activities to keep track of and the pressure to balance everything perfectly. In fact, that’s a rabbit a hole I’ve spiraled down many times. So where does gratitude come in for me? It’s simple. Gratitude is my version of grace in the most difficult moments. Let me explain.
If I’m having a stressful day where nothing is going right, instead of making a list of what could be different and how frustrated I am that it’s not, I start to make a mental list of what I’m grateful for. I’m serious when I say it becomes my life raft in those moments. It instantly brings me back to reality and reminds me of the blessings that are woven throughout the chaos. It shifts my perspective and when I’m struggling, that’s exactly what I need.
So I wouldn’t say that I have a specific “gratitude practice”. I would say that I use gratitude as a tool to keep my life in perspective, regardless of what’s happening around me. For me, that’s more powerful than anything else. So whether you like to journal, mediate, pray or use gratitude as a way to keep you humble and grateful, keep doing it and keep remembering how blessed you really are.
