The Benefits Of Being Thankful
Looking deep into yourself, would you consider yourself a grateful person? A thankful person? A giving person? Or, would you be honest and consider yourself more of a ‘self’- focused person? With Thanksgiving just around the corner, opening your eyes to the benefits of being thankful may fill your heart with much joy.
Lead with kindness. Live with gratitude…. Anonymous
My family is big on gratitude and expressing our hearts. We often sit around the dinner table and list off events, people or items we are thankful for. After a holiday or adventure, we chat about our top experiences we were glad (or thankful) we did or saw. And even deeper, we express our hearts to each other daily with ‘I Love You’s- what we love about the other person’ before bed. It has become an easy process for each of us – or rather – an easier process since sometimes, we can get in our ‘heads’ and begin to believe we have nothing to be thankful for.
Slipping into our ‘head’ or rather a ‘poor me’ syndrome and not being grateful for the blessings in our life can occur quite effortlessly. Stress can cause your head to be full. Busy work life can monopolize your day. Kids can take up all your free time or even a health scare can stop you in your tracks. One thing to remember though, is that there is always something to be thankful for.
As written in a previous blog – Having An Attitude of Gratitude – creating a gratitude journal is a great way to count your blessings each day. Simply writing down 5 things you are grateful for can start your day on the right foot.
For example – with Thanksgiving approaching, I am so thankful for:
- The love and joy of my amazing husband
- The inner and outer beauty of my daughter
- The joyous kind heart of my son
- How healthy my dad is
- Family time – laughing together
Those are just a few of my gratitude’s, but the benefits of being thankful are enormous. In reading The Benefits Of A Thankful Heart devotional – leading into this thankful week – it was a wonderful reminder on how being thankful can provide so much joy in your life.
Benefits of Being Thankful:
- Can help you notice the positive in life – leading us to praise
- Reminds us what is important – the good God has done for us
- Shifts our perspective – takes our eyes off of ourselves and softens our heart
- Can change our circumstances for we can begin to see a bigger picture
- Boosts your mood – increases joy and happiness within you
- Strengthens relationships because you have taken the focus off of yourself
- Enhances empathy towards others since you are thinking less about yourself
- Helps you sleep better because of the peace created inside
You see, being thankful and grateful for your blessings, your everyday encounters, or your significances in your life can, in fact, help your overall health. In turn, the more thankful you are and the more you are consistent with writing down your gratitude’s – the less self-focused you will be. Just that alone is something to be thankful for.
Thanksgiving is for the Giving of Thanks
As you begin your Thanksgiving weekend – whether that is with friends, family, or even if you will be in the presence of just yourself, take a moment to give thanks. It may be difficult for some if you’re struggling or experiencing conflict, but I would bet that if you really put some thought to it – you can come up with a few gratitude’s. Who knows? You just may feel a boost or a lift in your happy meter if you do so and that list of gratitude’s may become quite long.
Happy Thanksgiving to you (all of you in Canada). My thankful heart is full of gratitude for my husband, kids and family – my friends near and far – and I am also so grateful for all of you.
Blessings to you and your family.
