Gratitude For A Canadian Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada. Even in this turbulent economic time, I feel that I have a great deal to be thankful for.

As I have read the news over the past few weeks (albeit sporadically - it’s not something I do every day), I am grateful that I am Canadian. The Canadian economy is experiencing a downturn, along with the rest of the world - but we are not being as severely affected as our American neighbors. Canadians also have a federal election tomorrow - but our issues, although important to us, do not seem to be quite as divisive as what our American neighbors are facing. So, being a Canadian is a good thing!

Something that caught my eye in the newspaper this weekend was a special section on "Gratitude." There were ideas on strategies for expressing gratitude - keeping a gratitude journal, regularly contemplating the things we are grateful for, trying a mix of methods, and even expressing gratitude directly (imagine!) to someone to whom we owe a debt of gratitude. (The ideas specifically described in the article come from The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want by Sonja Lyubomirsky.) One article was a compilation of readers' answers responses about what they were thankful for, and the following was particularly touching:

"I am thankful for the many scars on my body, my badges of honour from battling breast cancer twice in my 36 years of life. I am thankful for the taste of coffee, for hugging my boys and for freezing in a hockey arena - things I was once too weak to enjoy." - Tina

October is the Canadian Cancer Society's Breast Cancer Awareness month, and my sister recently completed the 60-km "Run for the Cure" in Toronto (she has a wonderful story of her own to tell). I am grateful that all of my family is healthy.

I am also grateful to have been able to celebrate Thanksgiving with much of my family this weekend, and to have had a lovely visit with my daughter and some close friends last weekend. I am grateful for the wonderful food (that I didn't have to cook), especially turkey and pumpkin pie (and I am grateful that I snagged some leftovers of each!).

I am grateful for the fabulous weather we are having this weekend and some quiet time together with my husband.

There are innumerable things - large and small - to be grateful for. It doesn't matter which you choose, it just matters that you DO choose to be grateful for what you have and that you acknowledge it.

If you don't routinely express gratitude in your life - why not try it?! One of the articles I read cited research conducted by Sonja Lyubomirsky in which one group was told to keep a gratitude journal in which they regularly jotted down the things they were grateful for. Another group was told to write down daily hassles and annoyances. Not surprisingly, the result was that members of the first group were happier and more optimistic - AND - they spent more time exercising and reported feeling healthier!

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A Coaching Moment:
• What are you grateful for this season?
• How do you express your gratitude? - and is it often enough for you?
• If there is something that you would like more of, consider how expressing gratitude might increase your chances of getting more.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!