Early
November is time for me to take a deep breath.
It’s a brief period where the craziness of early fall has come to end
and the holiday season hasn’t started yet.
It’s a time to pause and be thankful even as we prepare for Thanksgiving
rituals. Psychologists tell us that
being thankful, looking for areas in our lives that we can be grateful, can
have a positive effect on our health.
Being purposeful about noticing things we can be grateful for has been correlated
with better health, sounder sleep, less anxiety and depression, higher
long-term satisfaction with life and kinder behavior toward
others, including romantic partners.
The
purposeful part is important. Gratitude
is an emotion we don’t necessarily feel unless we give it some attention. As we do make an effort to intentionally be
grateful, we will find it will become easier and experience the positive mental
and physical effects. It also can help
reduce stress. Looking for what we can
be thankful can help us be less likely to experience stress producing emotions
like envy, resentment, anger, and regret.
This
month, find a notebook and start a grateful journal. At the end of each day, note a few things for
which you are grateful. Especially notice what you are grateful for
about the people in your life. This can
help you feel more connected and compassionate toward others.
Another
idea, recommended by Dr. Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania, begins
with writing a 300-word letter to someone who changed your life for the better.
Be specific about what the person did and how it affected you. Deliver it in
person, preferably without telling the person in advance what the visit is
about. When you get there, read the whole thing slowly to your benefactor. “You
will be happier and less depressed one month from now,” Dr. Seligman guarantees in his book “Flourish.”
The
Bible recommends in many places to cultivate thanksgiving. In one place, the author wrote to a group of
Christians about relating to one another. He recommended that they live in with
the peace of Christ in their hearts and be thankful. He goes on to say that as they are talking to
each other do so with gratitude in their hearts toward God. He finishes the thought with, “Whatever you
do whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God the Father though him.” Colossians 3:15-17
It
would be great to go into December with a little less anxiety and a little
better sleep! In my house we make a
Thanksgiving poster and family members write throughout the month of November
things for which they are thankful. I
started it a few years ago and now my kids ask each fall, “Is it time to make
the poster?”
