As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, what might 2021 have provided us to be grateful for?
Are we thinking about a delicious feast, time off from work, visiting with family, avoiding excess calories, or do we simply think about what we can be truly thankful for?
This year, the holiday may seem a bit different for some and maybe not so much for others?
So many unknowns may have some of us conflicted about what to focus on.
It has been a long time since I’ve spent Thanksgiving with my kids. They’re grown, on their own, and live more than a car ride away.
Whether we have a huge feast planned or we’ll have a quiet Thanksgiving at home, we can find some comfort in exchanging wishes with family and friends.
How might it feel to ask ourselves, ‘if we could experience Thanksgiving in a way we want to, what might that look like?
What might we be able to do to create a holiday environment that could provide some of the things we want to make it great? What feels important about this?
In Costco’s November 2020 Issue of Costco Connection, writer Chris Powell highlights Michael J. Fox, author and famous actor of TV and movies. Mr. Fox talks about how he’s been dealing with many unknowns for nearly 30 years as he has been living with Parkinson’s, an incurable disease. Despite the impact this disease had on his family and career, he continues his commitment to maintain a positive mindset and keep a promise to advocacy to help raise money for research and increase awareness of Parkinson’s as a spokesperson. Though he describes himself as an “incurable optimist” he also references his difficulties with recent health struggles which might be noteworthy in today’s times; “All of a sudden it just got down on me”, he says, “[I thought] these are lemons life is giving me, but I’m not in the lemonade business.” Yet, he chooses to continue to “refuse to linger on the negatives that come with this life-changing disease.” (November 2020, Costco Connection, p 48)
Whether we are an incurable optimist like Michael J. Fox or not, how might we be able to make even a few glasses of lemonade from the lemons we may feel we’ve been given at a time when things may feel more unknown than ever before?
What might be important about what we may be thankful for in 2021?
This year we may be:
- Thankful for technology. It has given us a way to SEE our family, friends, and for many of us, the ability to work from home.
- Happy to be taking great care of our health.
- Appreciation for all that we have.
- Noticing all of the new opportunities to learn things we didn’t have time for before.
- Keeping all the knowledge we’ve gained implemented and moving us forward,
- So that we can achieve our desired success!
If we haven’t given thought yet to what we may be thankful for this year, how might it feel to list a few things we can share with others this Thanksgiving?
What if we were to note the things we can be grateful for not only on Thanksgiving but on each day going forward?
It doesn’t matter how big or small these things are.
It doesn’t matter if it’s important or not.
What matters to each of us individually can be very different. When we write it down, we may be able to SEE what we’re appreciative of that we may not have thought of before.
Have we written our list? Let’s read it again and again. We may recognize something new on our list or something else to add to it.
Either way, let’s be thankful for new opportunities we have discovered to gain new knowledge, to take great care of our health, to have the technology that has kept us connected, the appreciation for all the things that make us happy, and to achieve the success of all we have accomplished in 2021.
Let’s be grateful. Be healthy. Be happy. Be positive. Be powerful!
Something extra I’m thankful for this year is that “ME” Monday® is weekly so I can plan something special just for “ME” regularly.
You can be grateful for this too! It is a weekly holiday I’ve created just for you!
Wishing everyone thanks for following “ME” Monday® and to you and your families –
a Thanksgiving filled with health, happiness, and lots of laughter!