ESSENCE OF GIVING THANKS

Thanksgiving; is a celebration of food, fall, and gratitude. Thanksgiving as it is, is the day celebrated intending to show gratitude for all the great things that life has given to a person, for example, family, friends, positive feelings, and emotions. Even though Thanksgiving is often referred to as the harvest festival, it is something more than what it seems to suggest at first sight. With the main intention being cultivating thankfulness in the community,?

Thanksgiving is taken up by multiple cultures to spread joy and happiness along with prosperity and good tidings. Derived from the Latin word gratia, gratitude (depending on context) means grace, graciousness, or gratefulness. However, I’d say in the thanksgiving context, this term encompasses all these meanings. Gratitude, and giving thanks can mean numerous things, for numerous reasons, to numerous people. You can be thankful for the good and the bad, for the people who stood by you and those who left, those who taught you lessons and those who gave you unconditional love, to others and yourself- being thankful can encompass all this and much more.

Toward the end of the year is the start of one of the biggest festive celebrations that can make us feel many things. For a few, that feeling might be excitement, joy, or relief, whereas others might feel overwhelmed, burned out, or stressed. Almost everywhere I go, I overhear people discussing frustration over a multitude of pandemic, social, political, and personal issues. Many researchers have suggested that one aspect of the Thanksgiving season can lift the spirits and build the right mood to get into the holidays. Even Harvard Medical School in their article has mentioned that “giving thanks can make you happier.” They also stated that “With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives. In the process, people usually recognize that the source of that goodness lies at least partially outside themselves. As a result, being grateful also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals — whether to other people, nature, or a higher power.” Even in our studies of positive psychology, we see that gratitude is highly positively correlated with higher life satisfaction, happiness index, and many more things that are merry. It helps us relish our present, take lessons from our past and be optimistic about our unseen future.?

As a lot has been taken from western cultures, we can also share this beautiful practice that the Americans practice every year. In India, we too have harvest festivals. So why not make Thanksgiving something different this year? Why not make it a celebration of all our relationships? One of the most important aims of the Thanksgiving festival is to create bonding between the members of one's family and those close to us. Family members come together and strengthen the relationships that they have. Children are taught the values and traditions of the family as well as they are taught to respect the elders in the family and society, in general. Family members, who do not stay around, travel long distances to reunite with other members of their families to enjoy the reunion of the family through sharing delicious food, praying together, singing, and having other fun activities.? In other words, the concept of unity is emphasized during Thanksgiving.

What a wonderful tradition right??

There are some lessons we can learn from the festivals celebrated around the world as well. Lessons like appreciation, to gift each other attention and quality time, laughter, and joy. These gifts are worth much more than any materialistic possession we might have. These gifts tell someone they matter and are valued.?

So why don’t we celebrate this thanksgiving with our family and friends? Appreciate them for standing by your side. For the support, they might have given you. By acknowledging those you have taught you important life lessons as well, good or bad. Because remember, you are the person you are today not only because of all the good things that have happened to you but also because of all those challenging times you have had to encounter that made you emerge and be who you are today.?

How can we cultivate gratitude?

“The more we have the more we want”, this is something I have heard and seen in people a lot. Nothing ever seems to be enough and we often lead to complaining about the things that are lacking instead of being thankful for all that we have received.?

For instance; When I was in college, I received 98 marks out of 100 in my thesis presentation. At first, instead of celebrating my marks, I turned quickly to check where I had lost the 2 marks. I thought to myself “Why did I make this silly mistake”. And as I looked at my friends around me, I realized that I had still not appreciated the hard work that I had put in to get that amazing score while others around me did. They saw me for the marks I got and no one commented about the 2? marks I lost. This made me realize that self-acceptance of your situation plays an extremely important role in how happy you are in life.?

We can have a million things good but if we are stuck on the one thing we don't have, it will all seem so dark and gloomy. That is when I realized that gratitude helps people refocus on what they have instead of what they lack. And, although it may feel devised at first, this mental state grows stronger with use and practice.?

Harvard Medical School swears by some ways that we can incorporate into our routines and schedules that will help us be more grateful with practice;

• Write a thank-you note. You can make yourself happier and nurture your relationship with another person by writing a thank-you letter or email expressing your enjoyment and appreciation of that person's impact on your life. Send it, or better yet, deliver and read it in person if possible. Make a habit of sending at least one gratitude letter a month. Once in a while, write one to yourself.
• Reflect on how far you have come in life. Think about all those times you thought you could not get over but you still fought your way through it and are standing tall today. Appreciate your resilience and strength. Acknowledge the power you hold when you march forward with the right mindset. As they say “you have survived 100% of your worst days so far”, so give thanks and be proud.
• Keep a gratitude journal. Make it a habit to write down or share with a loved one thoughts about the gifts you've received each day.
• Count your blessings. Pick a time every week to sit down and write about your blessings — reflecting on what went right or what you are grateful for. Sometimes it helps to pick a number — such as three to five things — that you will identify each week. As you write, be specific and think about the sensations you felt when something good happened to you.
• Pray. Religious people can use prayer to cultivate gratitude.
• Meditate. Mindfulness meditation involves focusing on the present moment without judgment. Although people often focus on a word or phrase (such as "peace"), it is also possible to focus on what you're grateful for (the warmth of the sun, a pleasant sound, etc.).

Peter Ferdinand Drucker an Austrian-American educator, and author said, "Follow effective action with quiet reflection, from the quiet reflection will come even more effective action". We all have experiences and have made mistakes. And this quote helps us understand that we need to self-reflect, understand and accept all those experiences we have had. Only when we accept it all, will we move from just experiencing to truly understanding.?

It surely is not always a walk in the park but it is essential if we want to break our vicious cycles of never feeling complete and at peace. There definitely might come times when you feel like there is no escape from the endless thoughts in your mind, and that no matter how much you try, you can not organize or get over them. In such situations, where you feel like you are losing control, reach out to Transform Happily to get the best help from our team of experts. You do not have to struggle alone. Let us help us Transform, Happily. Reach out to us at 1800-833-8747 or email us at [email protected]?