Happy Gratitude

Being thankful is about more than just gorging ourselves on a huge feast once a year. It's about focusing on love for family and friends and the everyday seemingly insignificant occurrences that bring joy to your life throughout the year. Gratitude is a state of mind, and even in these hard times, I'm sure we all have much to be thankful for.

Research has shown that gratitude elicits other positive emotions and that practicing conscious gratitude leads to increased happiness, more energy, and better health. So after gathering with family and friends to give thanks tomorrow, adopt a long range plan for mindful gratitude. Keep a gratitude journal, write thank you notes to those who've shown you kindness, or designate a special time each day to verbalize 3 things you're grateful for. Whatever you do, remember to pause throughout the day to notice that a small but precious gift has just been given to you ... because in order to be grateful, we have to REALIZE all that we have to be grateful for!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday. Thanks for reading my blog. Happy Gratitude!