I write the Feel Change Build weekly newsletter about trusting emotions, transforming thoughts, and building lives that break the mold.
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๐ What are you thankful for?
Published 3 months agoย โขย 3 min read
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Happy Thanksgiving Reader!โ
I'm thankful for my family, friends, and you, of course! โ
I hope this email finds you in a quiet moment to yourself where you can really reflect. Talking to a few friends this week, the pressure was already on. Travel, house guests, and traditions galore are jazzing up our predictable schedules and ushering in the holiday season.
And I'm excited for all of it! (Well, most of it. I really hate hanging the outdoor lights!) But I'm thinking about you and how busy you are, too. So please listen when I say grab a cozy drink and enjoy your tree in the quiet dark. Meet a fun friend for coffee sans the expectations of gifts. And allow yourself to set down something your heart isn't in anymore. You deserve a wonderful holiday season, too. You aren't just a holiday magic-making machine. You deserve to enjoy the present while making memories that will last a lifetime!
Feel
Yesterday was rough. Not life-changing awful news rough, but death by a thousand cuts rough. If it was minor and could go wrong, it did! Starting with a power outage at 4:30am, I never got back to sleep after checking on the kiddos. By the end of the day, I was feeling worn out and far from grateful.
As I ran to pick up a prescription for my sick husband, the good old Happiness Lab podcast came on with a repeat on gratitude. Here we go, I rolled my eyes and prepared myself to be shamed into feeling grateful. There are people who would kill to have your food, house, health, etc. And, yes, I agree this is true, but I really wanted to wallow. Just a little.
But I listened anyway, drawn in by the science of gratitude. It not only makes us happier but also leads to longer, healthier, and more productive lives. This makes sense to me because I am usually happier when I'm appreciating things. Like the fact that we not only have the medicine I was going to get available and can afford it.
However, the podcast was not filled with this kind of guilt. It was aimed at appreciating more of the little things: when someone holds the door for you, lets you into traffic, or picks up something you dropped. Little acts of kindness that can redeem your faith in humanity and make you grateful for the caring people in this world.
We can, of course, expand to the obvious ones in our lives, like our friends, family, food, and home. But they lose their effectiveness over time. So is the adaptiveness of our primitive minds always searching for more. But there is still an endless supply of things to be grateful for: the internet bringing you this message to be grateful for. The electricity powering our homes. Our cars taking us where we want to go. Our pets bring love and acceptance to our homes. Our favorite shows making us laugh, and movies making us cry. Pretty much our entire human existence. It's pretty amazing, really.
I woke up feeling better today. Probably because I got some sleep for the first time in days (sickness has been running around our house!) and also because I let myself feel my feelings yesterday without guilt. Another thing to be grateful for.
Change
I've started following an old friend on LinkedIn and loving the simple solutions she provides for squeezing more movement and mobility into your day. If you're hunched over a computer most of the day like me, you will really enjoy how easily Shuva Rahim breaks down adding stretches to your day. I love doing her Mobility While You Wait routine when I'm standing in line! She also has a class coming up:
12 Days of Mace and Mobility: Dec 27 โ Jan 7 Daily 10-15 minute practices to undo what the holidays do to your body. Release tightness from travel, cooking, and hosting. Get more information here!โ
Build
Even though the SNAP benefits are back on, our food banks are all recovering, going into the holiday season. And even though I complain about the price of food going up almost every time I go shopping, I'm profoundly grateful I'm just choosing between wants and needs on sale instead of worrying about paying for any of it.
Most grocery stores are taking cash donations at checkout, and I encourage you to donate then. Food banks can get a better price on food donations than we can.
Also search for smaller food banks to not only donate to but also volunteer for this holiday season and year round. We have an amazing organization called Food for Hope out here that sends food home with kids over the weekends and operates foodbank pantry hours with schools for their families to shop at. Volunteering for these organizations is also a great way for kids to get involved with volunteering to appreciate the many things we take for granted!
Thank you for taking the time to read. Please share with a friend who would enjoy the newsletter!
Have a lovely day! - Kate
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