By Novels and Books Author Denise Turney

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to focus on your Blessings, people and experiences that you are thankful for. Focus on what you’re thankful for and you could shift into a better mental state. Even more, you could alter your energy enough to attract more good into your life.

Focus on Thanksgiving

Zoning in on appreciation is a quick to-do. For example, you could write down 20 people, experiences and successes that you’ve had over the last 12 months. This is how my early morning unfolded. And, I’m grateful for it. This morning, I paused and considered my family.

Gifts of openness, honesty, trust, care, presence, love and more are what I’m blessed to receive from my family. For you, it might be family that enriches your life too. Or, it could be the fact that you earn your entire income engaging in activities that you love. That is a situation that’s worth an expression of thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving Blessings

Here’s a quick start on other life experiences that you could hold appreciation for. However, you might be so busy that you just don’t take the time to think about these blessings. Today, consider changing that habit. Instead of overlooking what you’re thankful for, invest two minutes into each day to zone in on what you can “thank” someone, the Creator, the universe or nature for. You might appreciate:

• Physical health that fuels you to travel, spend time with family and friends and do work that you love
• Mental balance that makes it easy for you to feel loved, cared for, valued and loving
• Housing that offers shelter, reliability and comfort
• Fresh water to drink
• Access to physical, psychological and emotional support (even if you don’t need the support, it’s easy for you to access should you need the support in the future)
• Ability to travel to destinations that excite you
• Colleagues who appreciate and support you
• Supportive customers and clients
• Creativity
• Pets who are always excited to see and be around you
• Rest and a good night of sleep
• Skills and talents that have opened doors for you
• Living in an area that gives you easy access to the theater, restaurants, libraries, bookstores, worship centers, nature or other things that you enjoy being part of

Benefits of Practicing Appreciation

This year on Thanksgiving Day, focus on your blessings in the morning. At the end of Thanksgiving Day, think about your blessings again. In less than eight hours, the list of experiences that you’re thankful for will have grown since morning. Whether you spend Thanksgiving Day alone or with family, friends or at a shelter, you can enjoy a delicious Thanksgiving dinner.

That alone is an experience to be thankful for. Consider getting into the habit of counting your blessings. Get into the habit of looking for more people to appreciate. Doing so could open you up to more loving relationships. An Emotion study found that, “thanking a new acquaintance makes them more likely to seek an ongoing relationship.”¹

Studies have also shown that living with thanksgiving improves physical health. People who practice appreciation, have been shown to experience fewer body pains, according to Psychology Today.¹ Start living with a spirit of thanksgiving every day and you could also sleep better.

Improved mental and emotional health have also been linked to active appreciation. In fact, the more frequently you practice thanksgiving, the deeper the benefits may be for you. There’s also a link between being appreciative and self-esteem. Psychology Today shares that, “Other studies have shown that gratitude reduces social comparisons. Rather than becoming resentful toward people who have more money or better jobs—a major factor in reduced self-esteem—grateful people are able to appreciate other people’s accomplishments.”

Happy Thanksgiving

Furthermore, looking for experiences and people to be thankful for could make you stronger psychologically. Not only could searching for things to appreciate improve your self-esteem, it could steer you away from depression and feelings of isolation.

Additionally, you might become mentally strong to the point where you navigate through an unexpected challenge without feeling like you’re falling apart. If you think back to instances when you counted losses and challenges instead of looking for experiences to be thankful for, you might discover that it was during those times when you felt at your lowest.

So, consider using this Thanksgiving Day as a launch pad into a lifetime of appreciation. To kick it off, I truly thank you for supporting my writings and my books. You are a part of my thanksgiving. When I think about how much I love to write and create stories, the chance to use that passion to connect with awesome book buyers and book readers is a huge-huge blessing. I am so grateful for you and your support. Happy Thanksgiving!

Resources:

1. 7 Scientifically Proven Benefits of Gratitude | Psychology Today

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