Thanksgiving is a traditional American holiday and a time to practice gratitude for all we have received throughout the year.
The roots of our modern-day celebration can be traced back 397 years when the English colonists – better known as the Pilgrims – settled in Massachusetts. They invited their Wampanoag Tribe neighbors to celebrate their first successful harvest with several days of gratitude and feasting.
And we are still as thankful and grateful for the basics in our lives as the settlers and Native Americans were nearly 400 years ago?
While Thanksgiving was not declared a national holiday until 1863 under proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln, many states and other presidents had declared occasional days of Thanksgiving as an opportunity to thank God, share blessings with family and neighbors, and celebrate everything they had.
In the fast-paced world we live in today—when the world is at your fingertips and our phones do the work it took 20 devices to handle just a couple of decades ago—it’s easy to see Thanksgiving as simply a day off; as a weigh station between Halloween and Christmas and only the beginning of the crazy shopping season.
With all of this in mind, I think it’s a great time to pause and think about how we can be more grateful for everything we have. Maybe pick up a couple of good habits that stick with us longer than just the third Thursday of November.
Five Ways to Practice Gratitude
1. Remind Yourself to be Grateful
Did you know science has proven that if you sit down and list the things you are grateful for, even as few as five things, that you will eventually rewire your brain to naturally become more grateful within eight weeks? A 2015 study by a neuropsychologist showed that brain patterns change after only 60 days, resulting in people having great empathy and happiness. Make this part of your everyday routine, either when brushing your teeth, taking a shower, or as you begin to fall asleep at night. The results will blow your mind!
2. Keep a Gratitude Journal
If you’re unable to come up with things to be grateful for with the mindfulness activity listed above, force yourself to write down the reasons you’re grateful. Along with focusing your attention, you’ll have a written log of the things you’re thankful for and that can come in handy to look back upon when you’re not feeling too great.
3. Call. Don’t Write
One group studied the science of happiness and conducted an experiment about five years ago to gauge the change in emotion in people when they expressed gratitude toward others. When their subjects wrote a letter of gratitude, their happiness increased between 2 and 4 percent. When they picked up the telephone and called the same person, their happiness increased between 4 and 19 percent!
4. Don’t Be Alone
Sometimes, when we’re feeling depressed or angry at the world, we just want to be left alone. That actually can cause things to continue to spiral downward. It’s been proven in study after study that spending time with loved ones – friends or family – actually picks us up during those down times and a big piece of it has to do with being grateful for having these people in our lives.
5. Give Something Back
Have you ever seen the person ringing the Salvation Army bell as you leave a store during the holiday season? Maybe you’ve even given a dollar. Why don’t you volunteer to ring the bell? If that’s not your thing, there are plenty of activities and organizations that could use you as a volunteer. When you help others, you make note of all you already have.
So, as you sit down to the Thanksgiving table take stock of what you’re thankful for. Keep in mind that you don't have to be thankful only once a year, prior to gorging yourself with turkey and cranberry sauce.
Practicing gratitude is a habit you should engage in year-round.