Talk Turkey To Me: A Little known Way To Be truly Grateful

Giving thanks is never as easy as it seems.

It’s a great idea this time of the year to spend some time reflecting on what has led us to this exact moment in time.

Giving thanks is reverse navigation. 

By looking back at the year and the things we can truly be thankful for we can assess progress, measure outcomes and get an overall feel for how the year went.

I see Thanksgiving as a time of reflection. 

New Year's is the time for planning.

Nice as it is, there is also a shadow side to giving thanks. 

Draw a list of things that were painful or hard to deal with this year.

Look back hard at them. 

What part did you play? 

More importantly, what did you learn?

Successful people learn from their victories and failures. Which one will you focus on during this reflection?

Both.

Both will teach you the most because they are a complete picture of what’s happened.

Most often when I meet a truly successful person and ask them, what's the recipe? 

They reply…

I do what other people don’t like to do.

What is it in your life that you could start doing that you may have been dodging? 

Successful people learn from their victories and failures. Which one will you focus on during this reflection?

What would the outcomes be?

Play the table game. 

Go home and put to paper your greatest triumphs this year. 

Write them down and put them on dinner plates at your table.

Next write your biggest failures or regrets. 

Put them on plates. 

Now for the fun, place the two (one happy one sad) together and see what comes to mind.

For example...

One of my biggest thanks is that my mother, who lost her leg earlier this year, has found an awesome prosthetic that is accelerating her recovery and transition.

One of my biggest regrets is that she is still dealing with diabetes. 

Match these two up and what do I have?

My scale was broken for a long time. This exercise balanced the scale again.

A stalemate.

The fact that she has a debilitating disease, is kept in balance by the fact that she is doing remarkably well and all set to celebrate this Thanksgiving.

This exercise balances that scale for me. 

My scale was broken for a long time. This exercise balanced the scale again.

How about you? 

What did you write? 

What did you pair together?

I’ll let you in on a little secret...

I actually take the things I am thankful for and the ones that cause me pain and mix them up, dealing them out Vegas style.

What comes together really makes me think harder about them, than when I choose the pairings.

Stack up your cards and deal them out.

Turkey is waiting.

Stay healthy my friends. 

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Will Donnelly is the Co-founder of Text To Fit. He is a Personal Trainer and Health Coach, certified in personal training, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and fitness nutrition. He specializes in weight loss and weight management. He focuses on integrating an emotional and mental approach to the fitness process, ensuring the greatest synergistic outcome.