Happy Thanksgiving!
Yeah…I know that TODAY is not technically Thanksgiving Day…
My point, I suppose, is that while we name one day every year, the day to “give thanks,” in reality, we can personally declare a day of thanksgiving on any day. Or even EVERY day.
As an overarching theme…having a grateful spirit provides the foundation for living a life of good health and great joy.
Unfortunately–and I know this is true in my case–a grateful spirit does not come naturally. Living in a consistent state of gratitude requires a conscious choice. Therefore, I have to work at it…intentionally.
I have come to believe that we are the gardeners of our own hearts. It is up to us to pull the weeds of ingratitude while watering and feeding every spark of thanksgiving that occurs.
At the end of the day, gratitude is a thought process I must plan to activate every day. Gratitude is not an automatic response to a gift or kind word. On the contrary, gratitude should be lived as a discipline.
The discipline of gratitude might be defined as the conscious effort to identify sources of contribution to our lives and outwardly acknowledge that contribution.
As we close, allow me to add a bit about how important it is to raise your children to be grateful.
As we know, an ungrateful person will not be a happy person. This in itself should be enough for us to determine that our children need to grow up with a healthy understanding of gratitude’s power and their ability to bring it into focus every day.
What does a grateful child become? A grateful adult. And if you think about it for a moment, you’ll realize that a grateful spirit is always at the core of the people we like most. Show me a grateful child and I’ll show you a child who will be an awesome husband or wife; an incredible mother or father.
Grateful children become the best employees and the best employers. Grateful children become lifelong learners. They become better listeners and are more willing to go to bat for someone else.
Grateful children have an easier time in school and often become leaders. Why? Because a spirit of gratitude attracts hearts and minds. People naturally follow a person who displays a spirit of gratitude.
So, from my family to yours, allow me to say today… Happy Thanksgiving! Remember that making gratitude an intentional focus of your life is one of the most reality changing choices you can ever make.
Andy Andrews
New York Times bestselling author and CEO of CreatingMeasurableResults.com
Andy hosts a weekly podcast titled “The Professional Noticer: Observations and Answers with Andy Andrews" with subscribers in more than 120 countries. Listeners can join him live on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 12:15 PM for enlightening discussions that draw on his wealth of knowledge and experience. Visit the studio located at The Wharf, 4751 Main Street, F213/214 (2nd Level), Orange Beach.
Good Morning America listed The Traveler's Gift, as "One of the five books you should read in your lifetime" and The Bottom of the Pool was listed on Forbes as "One of the "Top 7 Books All Entrepreneurs Must Read."