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Be grateful: 5 things you can do now
A thread
https://jaccen.com/be-grateful-5-things-you-can-do-now/
A thread
https://jaccen.com/be-grateful-5-things-you-can-do-now/
Thanksgiving Holiday: Be Grateful
Today, October 12, 2020 is Canadian Thanksgiving Holiday! Thanksgiving in Canada is celebrated on the second Monday of October each year and it's an official statutory holiday in most provinces of Canada. Thanksgiving is a holiday dedicated to the focus of being thankful.
I personally love this holiday. Not just because of the food and the fact that I am surrounded by family and friends, but also because being thankful is a great feeling.
The Oxford Dictionary ( https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/thankful)defines the word thankful as “pleased and relieved.” Who doesn’t like being pleased and relieved about something? We all love good news.
In today’s blog, I pondered on the words thankful and grateful. They are similar and have slightly different meanings as well. Being grateful seems to go a bit deeper than being thankful.
The Oxford Dictionary ( https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/grateful) defines the word grateful as “feeling or showing an appreciation of kindness.” This is where I find the difference in the two words; being thankful is a feeling, and being grateful includes an action.
Be Grateful and Be Thankful
You may be wondering why this distinction is important. As we all know, feelings come and go, however, an action has lasting impact.
I know we are thankful many times over the course of a day, week, months and year because we just don’t wait for Thanksgiving holiday to be thankful. The holiday does give us an opportunity to reflect and create those habits of being grateful.
Gratitude is more than just the feeling of thankfulness.
When we are thankful, this is step number 1 which should lead us to cultivate that habit of gratitude. With a habit of gratitude, our senses become heightened to the roles of our creator and others in our lives.
We show appreciation for little things, big things and everything in between. With this practice, we will notice that we complain less, we love more and we attract more happiness into our days and lives.
What does it mean to be grateful?
What does it mean to be grateful?
The scriptures tell us in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “In every thing give thanks…”. This command though simple is certainly not easy to practice -”in everything…” There are times we just don’t feel there’s anything to be thankful for.
When I am sick or struggling, I don’t feel thankful in those moments. Losing a loved one does not immediately evoke any thankful feelings and probably for a long time. We are all human and we cannot fight our feelings.
This is however, where the actions of being grateful kick in and are very helpful
In this command , “give thanks” notice it’s an action: give thanks- be grateful. Though I may not feel thankful at times, I can always embrace giving thanks.
As with many life principles, we know the principles work, they are usually simple, yet our logical minds would rather work on complicating the simple principles and end up not practicing them.
While it’s not easy to dictate to our emotions what to do at any point in time, it is what we do with those emotions that we have control over. You can give this life principle a try now as you read.
Take just 30 seconds to recall something you are thankful for and just be grateful for it even if you don’t feel thankful right now. Now, that wasn’t so hard to do, was it? And how do you feel once you recalled that pleasant experience and was actually grateful for it?
Now you’ve done this short practice, let's explore more actions you can take to be grateful, today and always.
“It’s hard to be hateful when you are grateful” – Chris Hogan
“It’s hard to be hateful when you are grateful” – Chris Hogan
Be grateful: 5 things you can do now
- Gratitude list: Are you going through a challenging time right now? As we touched on earlier, challenging times are one of the worst for any feelings of thankfulness, however, all is not lost. You are more than any challenges you may be going through right now.
When you search within you, you will find that there are small or big things happening in your life right now that you can be thankful for.
I often look at my life using some financial analogies. In finance, we talk of a person or company’s net worth. The net worth ( https://www.wealthsimple.com/en-ca/learn/what-is-net-worth#how_to_calculate_net_worth) is made up of what you own minus what you owe.
Your challenges may be seen as a minus at this time depending on what they are or you may see them as opportunities as well.
However, thinking about the things that are going well for you, and being grateful for them will slowly reset your mind from focusing on the challenges and open you up to see opportunities.
- ACTION: In the next 5 days, write a gratitude list consisting of at least 3 things you are grateful for each day. There’s no specific time of the day to do this - just whatever time works for you.
For some people it’s in the morning when they wake up, some others prefer to do this before they go to bed. I personally, note things as the day goes. For example, today, I have already noted 3 things down in my list (before the day is done, this list will definitely grow.
The beauty is that as I grow through the day and add things to my list, I have fewer instances of being hateful, complaining, or other negative actions). Here’s my list as an example. I am grateful for:
- The gift of life today and the opportunity to spend time with my family this holiday
- This awesome holiday where many people in the country are collectively being thankful. That is a lot of good vibes in the environment and I’m sure it has ripple effects which will positively impact those that don’t feel thankful for many reasons today
- The beautiful fall colors. This natural transformation of the leaves during fall leaves (no pun intended ) me in awe and wonder of creation and the creator.
“Write an account of this victory so that it will be remembered.” – Exodus 17:14 GNT
“Write an account of this victory so that it will be remembered.” – Exodus 17:14 GNT
- Manifest your desires: Recently, I was pleased with my daughter and I said to her, “I’ll give you $5”. She was very happy and said thank you. She did not even ask why she was getting this gift. She believes she will get the money.
She hasn’t got it but she has faith and she’s thankful. What are those genuine promises you have been made by God or man - start now and be thankful for them, believing you have received it.
This may sound woo woo, however, there's power in visualization and manifestation and just being grateful for things to come in faith opens your mind to see opportunities that will lead to manifest these desires and promises.
When you are doubtful and skeptical, you remain closed to any opportunities that may present themselves to you because you do not see the connections with the desire or promise.
ACTION: What promises do you desire? This doesn’t have to be only big things. Write it down, keep it in a visible place. Be thankful as if you’ve already received this desire and lastly believe. I use a vision board to manifest God’s promises in my life.
Importantly, I do not throw away anything that has manifested. This doubles up as another reminder to be thankful for all that has happened in my life and as reassurance that many good things will happen as well.
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write an account of this victory so that it will be remembered." - Exodus 17:14 Good News Translation
This thread can be read here: https://jaccen.com/be-grateful-5-things-you-can-do-now/
