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Thanksgiving is over, but that doesn’t mean you can forget about being thankful for the rest of the holiday season.
Thankfulness is part of how you can keep your positive mental health, and help lift the spirits of others.
Experts give tips for how you can be more thankful, and how to show you are thankful.
Denise Posnak, the founder of MyBOD Wellness, said in an email that people can increase their thankfulness by finding the time to say “thank you” at every possible opportunity.
Here are some ways she suggests that people can show their thankfulness to others:
1) “Write thank you on the checks you write to pay your bills.”
2) “Express thanks to the shop keepers who ring up your gifts.”
3) “Thank your friends personally (take them aside during the party) for hosting and prepping for the holiday shindig.”
4) “Thank your familly member for hosting, cleaning, prepping for the holiday dinner/event.”
5) “Thank your mail person for securely delivering the mail (leave a gift card or a note).”
6) “Thank yourself for doing such a good job all year and especially now during this season.”
7) “Thank your children's teacher or bus driver for caring for your precious one.”
Barb Churchill, a life coach, mentor and founder of Fill Your Cup Coach, LLC, said in an email that sometimes gratitude needs to be eased into if you’re not used to it.
She suggested first looking at what you already have in your life, and start listing those aspects of your life that you are grateful for. This can be friends, family, good health, a job in this rough economy, a home, food and pet.
She said she starts off her mornings listing what she’s grateful for, and it helps her continue with a positive mood.
“Set aside a few minutes a day to be in gratitude,” Churchill said.
“Once that becomes a habit, move onto the next step - writing in a gratitude journal at the end of your day. I write in mine just before I go to sleep (the state in which you go to sleep is the same state in which you wake up) and recount things specific to the day that I'm thankful for.”
The next step is to pay attention more throughout the day to all the people, events and things you are grateful for, and soak all that gratitude up. Churchill also has suggestions for how to make your thankfulness more obvious to others.
She said people can first start out showing their gratitude with small displays such as thanking people who help them out through the day, such as a barista or cashier. The next step is to thank loved ones for everything they do, despite their busy schedules and possibly limited resources.
The final step in showing as much gratitude as possible is to get to the point where you can donate to charities (or give time to a cause if money is an issue), as well as engaging in random acts of kindness, she said.
Sonie Guseh, a personal development writer, suggested in an email to increase thankfulness by creating a folder or document full of positive affirmations.
“Any time something good happens to you - maybe it's a raving review from a colleague, a compliment from a friend, or a kind thank-you from a mentee - make note of it,” Guseh said.
“When you're having a bad day, refer to your positive affirmations document. You'll be reminded of the many gifts and blessings that you have.”
Lisa Ryan, a gratitude expert and founder of the company Grategy (which is Gratitude and Strategies combined) has additional suggestions for how to be more thankful.
One of her tips via email includes writing a letter of appreciation, because this can go further than saying “thank you” in person -- it can be treasured even longer by the person who receives it.
She also suggested greeting everyone with a smile and telling them that you are thankful for what they do for you. Another way to increase your gratitude is to meditate on your thankfulness (past or present) in the morning, even for just five minutes.
Tina B. Tessina, a psychotherapist and author, said in an email that people can change negative attitudes to gratitude by making positive notes on a calendar about achievements to help remind them of what they are thankful for.
People can also set up more visible reminders of what they are thankful for, such as pictures of events they participated in, or plant flowers in honor of a milestone reached.
Sources:
Posnak, Denise. Email interview. Nov. 27, 2012
Churchill, Barb. Email interview. Nov. 27, 2012
Guseh, Sonie. Email interview. Nov. 27, 2012
Ryan, Lisa. Email interview. Nov. 28, 2012
Tessina, Tina. Email interview. Nov. 27, 2012
Reviewed November 29, 2012
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith
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