Thanksgiving Takes on Whole New Meaning Through Pandemic

The traditional American Thanksgiving holiday takes on new meaning as virtually every American has been touched by the pandemic.?Those who contracted the virus may be grateful they recovered and survived, while those who didn’t may be grateful they did not contract it. No matter your personal experience with illness or wellness, we have all lost something, whether it be work, time with loved ones, ability to travel and visit friends and family, and much more.?

How can we make special meaning of gratitude during this special season??

I invite us to look within ourselves and what we’ve learned through the pandemic about what and who is most important.?Then we share that, either with a quick phone call, email, text, or even better, a handwritten note.?

It can feel awkward at first to verbally share what we appreciate and value in one another.?Yet I can say from direct experience that expressing appreciation and gratitude for how another individual positively affects us is one of the most generous acts in which we can engage.?Not only does it positively affect the receiver; it also enhances the giver. Having been on both the giving and receiving end of gratitude recently, I can attest that my heart soared when I touched or was touched by someone.

Gratitude has also been researched extensively.?

Harvard Medical School Health Publishing reported findings from Dr. Robert A. Emmons of Univ. California at Davis and Dr. Michael E. McCullough of the University of Miami, who have done much of the research on gratitude.

“In one study, they asked all participants to write a few sentences each week, focusing on particular topics. One group wrote about things they were grateful for that had occurred during the week. A second group wrote about daily irritations or things that had displeased them, and the third wrote about events that had affected them (with no emphasis on them being positive or negative). After 10 weeks, those who wrote about gratitude were more optimistic and felt better about their lives. Surprisingly, they also exercised more and had fewer visits to physicians than those who focused on sources of aggravation”

The research extended to the field of leadership as well.??“Managers who remember to say "thank you" to people who work for them may find that those employees feel motivated to work harder. Researchers at the Wharton School at the Univ. of Pennsylvania randomly divided university fund-raisers into two groups. One group made phone calls to solicit alumni donations in the same way they always had. The second group — assigned to work on a different day — received a pep talk from the director of annual giving, who told the fund-raisers she was grateful for their efforts. During the following week, the university employees who heard her message of gratitude made 50% more fund-raising calls than those who did not.”

Research and direct experience cause me to invite you to commit to one way of not only being grateful, but also expressing your own gratitude.?Here are some pointers:

• Write a handwritten thank-you note once or twice a month to someone you appreciate at work, or in your life; share with them the impact they have had on you.
• Write in a journal five things you feel grateful for.?Aim for several times a week, if not daily.
• Call someone whose relationship you value and let them know what about them specifically you are grateful for in your life

For many of us this will be or first in-person Thanksgiving in two years.?Wishing you more people and things to acknowledge in 2021 than you have had time to count.