Happy Wednesday!
If you choose to be grateful, then you choose to be happy! As I’ve often said, the attitude of gratitude will always bring happiness. May you appreciate and enjoy the blessings surrounding you today, tomorrow, and always!
To those who celebrate Thanksgiving, I wish you a wonderful holiday filled with love, laughter, delicious food, and an abundance of gratitude! 🙂
🙂
I love Thanksgiving and all that it represents. It is a day filled with love, family, food, and GRATITUDE. It is a time to give thanks for all the blessings in our lives. I strive to live every day of my life in a state of thanksgiving because I truly believe that the attitude of gratitude always brings happiness. Turning my focus to the blessings in my life is something I strive for each day, and I try to remind my family to do the same.
This beloved turkey has become a favorite Thanksgiving tradition in our house. He returns each year around this time to remind us of how blessed we truly are. This weekend my kids asked if we could take it out, and they were all really excited to help put it up.
Each year we ask our Thanksgiving guests to fill out a feather and write what they are thankful for. When we take it out each November, it fills our hearts with love and wonderful memories of past Thanksgivings and reminds us of how blessed our lives have been and all we have to be thankful for today. Occasionally we are reminded of people or things that are no longer in our lives, but that just reminds us that nothing really belongs to us and we need to take nothing for granted. Everything in our lives right now is a gift and blessing from God. We need to focus on the present and try to recognize and appreciate all the gifts in our lives today.
May you recognize and appreciate the gift of every person, every thing, and every experience you encounter today! Peace and blessings! 🙂
“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances;” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV
(For complete directions on how to make our “Count Your Blessings Turkey Decoration,” check out the full post on my blog Stacy Loves… here.)
One of the books that has had the greatest influence on my life so far is the book “Life Makeovers” by Cheryl Richardson. This book is broken up into 52 weeks. Each week focuses on a specific topic and gives advice and tips on ways to improve your life in that area.
I have followed along with this book each week for the past 6 years, and my favorite piece of advice in the book comes from this week before Thanksgiving, Week 47. The title of Week 47 is called The “Thank You” Game. Cheryl suggests thanking one person a day for the next week. It can be a teacher, bus driver, librarian, friend, spouse, child, a parent, postal worker, doctor, etc. It can be anyone you come into contact with regularly that you would like to thank. You can thank them by simply writing an unexpected note or e-mail, or by attaching a small gift like a box of chocolates or flowers or anything they might like.
I love this exercise because it is being done out of sincere gratitude, not obligation. The recipient is usually not expecting anything, so they are usually very appreciative of the gesture. It is a win-win situation on both sides. We all love to feel appreciated, and it’s a great feeling to know your small gesture brightened someone’s day.
I am hoping to thank the following people during the next 7 days: each of my daughters’ teachers, the bus driver, my husband and children, my mom & dad, the librarians at our local library, and the attendant at our local recycle center. Help me spread the gratitude and love this week by playing along with Cheryl Richardson’s “Thank You” game!