Thanksgiving may well-be the
healthiest holiday we celebrate. Those
of you whose minds went straight to the artery-clogging double portions of
deep-fried turkey, sausage stuffing, marshmallow sweet potatoes and pecan pie
may think I’m crazy. Well, I’m clearly
not talking about the food; I’m talking about the exercise. Now those of you who are plopped on the couch
with a drumstick in each hand may think I’m crazy. Well, I’m not talking about the Thanksgiving Turkey
Trot 5K kind of exercise either. I’m
talking about spiritual exercise. On
Thanksgiving, we dedicate a whole day to exercising gratitude, which is one of
the healthiest spiritual exercises we can do.
Gratitude is an emotional and
spiritual muscle that grows and strengthens with regular use. Studies show that gratitude is directly linked
to happiness and well-being. You see, each
person’s basic level of happiness rests at a natural set point. When something bad happens, our happiness
level can drop. When something good
happens, it can go up, but ultimately, our happiness level always returns to
its natural set point. That’s where
gratitude comes in: Practicing gratitude
can raise our natural happiness set point as much as 25%, which allows us to remain
at a higher level of overall happiness regardless of outside circumstances.[1]
A 25% increase in overall happiness? That’s a pretty good return on investment for
any exercise, especially since exercising gratitude is so easy. It’s easy because there’s always something to
be grateful for. Of course, we all
experience times when we aren’t feeling very grateful. But when we focus on something we’re grateful
for in the midst of our most difficult times, our “gratitude shines a light on
the darkness, the struggle, the difficulty and in the pockets of brightness, we
notice the grace that seemed before to be hidden from view.”[2]
That ever-present grace lifts us from
the depths of our troubles by allowing us to relive - to enjoy and linger on - the kind
word, the companionship, the help, or the gift that we’re grateful for. In the end, exercising gratitude, like any
exercise, is our choice. As you make
that choice, think of the “glass half-full” and “glass half-empty” people in your
life, and ask yourself, “Who’s happier?”
Personally, I aspire to Alphonse Karr’s worldview: “Some
people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.”[3]
While exercising
gratitude is easy, it does take practice to attain its full benefits. So here are a few simple ways to exercise
gratitude:
1.
Identify your obstacles to gratitude – perhaps envy,
greed, pride, narcissism, entitlement, fear, inattention, or ego - and deal with them;
2.
Keep a gratitude journal – Each day write down
one or two things that you’re grateful for and look back at past entries every
once in a while;
3.
Learn a gratitude prayer – I like the last stanza
of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s poem, We Thank
Thee: “For this new
morning with its light, Father we thank Thee.
For rest and shelter of the night, Father we thank thee. For health and food, for love and friends, for
everything Thy goodness sends, Father in
heaven, we thank Thee.”
4.
Write a thank you letter - You know how good it feels to get one. It feels even better
to send one;
5.
Hang out with people who are grateful – Gratitude,
like misery, is infectious. It’s your
choice;
6.
Hang out with people who are less fortunate than
you – ‘Nuff said.
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