‘Tis the season of gratitude, does your suck? Are you guilty of these gratitude gaffs?
1. The table is set with the fine china. The family is gathered around. It’s a bona fide Norman Rockwell moment. You collect your thoughts, clear your throat and give thanks for the bounty before you. You might even go around the dinner table and share what you are thankful for. But this once-a-year display is hardly the way to embrace gratitude, is it? How can you learn to give thanks every single day…even when life gets tough?
2. Do you head out to the malls and the big box stores to take advantage of the Black Friday blowout specials? Only in America do we spend a day giving thanks for what we have and then turn around and go out in a shopping frenzy to get what we don’t have. And before you rationalize with the argument that you are buying for others, look at those special deals that you just happened to pick up for yourself…just because you couldn’t pass up the deal. Gratitude, true gratitude, is about being thankful for what you have.
3. And while we’re talking about Black Friday…do you get caught up in the madness? Cursing the jerk who cuts you off on the highway, fighting for that parking space or grabbing the last do-hickie on the shelf that is 50% off as another shopper is swooping in for the kill? What is wrong with this picture? Is this the spirit of the holidays?
4. Every year, you have a passing thought of going to serve food at the local food bank or homeless shelter on Thanksgiving Day. But something always happens and it just never seems to happen. Sometimes, you have to make the extra effort to express your gratitude and to give to others who are less fortunate. Make the effort; it will be worth it!
5. Don’t force gratitude. Sometimes we feel like we are supposed to feel gratitude so we go through the motions. But our mind is too focused on our hardships, what we don’t have or what we want. So we really don’t give gratitude a reasonable chance to get our attention. Gratitude is much deeper and more impactful if you learn to appreciate it organically for what it is. Learn to separate those things that truly make you happy now (even if you’re going through a tough patch). Start small. Appreciate the little things. A gratitude journal can be a great way to build your awareness of all the good that surrounds you each and every day.
