Yesterday my family went on a sunset hike to a lake overlook that was simply breathtaking. The purple mountains, the age-old cactus in the desert hills, and the shimmering colors of the descending sun filled me with awe. Even more so, as I followed my boys who ran ahead up the trail, my heart burst with love and thankfulness for them and the opportunity to just be together.
Gratitude. It is probably no surprise that my blog is on this subject this Thanksgiving week.
This year, the Thanksgiving season takes on an even greater meaning. 2020 is one for the history books and we are living in it. It has been unsettling, surreal, and at times, downright scary. When faced with incredible uncertainty, your mind can take you off in a myriad of directions:
- You can be afraid – and allow debilitating fear to paralyze you.
- You can fight – and argue and complain to anyone who will listen.
- You can give up – and succumb to worry about today, tomorrow, and the future.
Or, you can make another choice. Rather than being filled with fear, worry, and complaining about things beyond your control, you can choose an attitude of gratitude.
It is not easy, but it is a choice you have the power to make. Choosing gratitude, especially in times of difficultly, is the perspective that keeps your spirits lifted.
There is a wealth of evidence that shows that an attitude of gratitude will improve not only your own life, but the quality and health of your relationships with others too. Your attitude of thanks and abundance influences everyone around you.
The Scarcity Trap
Even when things are going pretty well you can find yourself in a trap of scarcity thinking, always believing you don’t have enough and that you need to do more or be more. You may think, “When I achieve this, or have that, or get there, then I will be happy.”
When you get lost in the place of disappointment, or wanting, you miss the very things in your life that are already there – just waiting for you to recognize their importance. You have the choice to recognize this place of negativity and make a mindset shift to abundance. You can choose to be thankful for the gifts you have already received.
In a year like this year, you may feel like much has been taken from you. And it may be true. It may be harder to find an abundance mindset but you can get there.
Gratitude Shifts Your Attitude
When you choose an attitude of gratitude you keep in mind that every moment is here and then gone. You don’t get a do over of the day, the year, or the new decade. This helps you to be more present and intentional about your everyday moments.
In the volatility of 2020, the most important things – my faith, my family, my health, my home have gotten clearer. I am choosing an abundance mindset where I see a long and full life ahead of me. And, at the same time, I realize that every single day is a gift.
This Thanksgiving season, take a look at your life and be grateful for all the gifts you have in it. Choose gratitude and allow it to shift your mindset to one of abundance, thanksgiving, and joy.