Thanksgiving — an attitude, not a day

I admit it — I’m in it for the mashed potatoes. Well, that’s not entirely true. There’s also the roast broccoli in lime juice. Okay, okay, there’s more to Thanksgiving feasting than the food. The truth is that my favorite part is not the food; it’s the people. 
I will have the too rare opportunity to have my extended family all together in my home, where I will be able to enjoy them, feed them, and care for them in whatever ways present themselves.
I have the amazing good fortune to have the best and funniest family ever. They are kind, generous, smart, loving, and hilarious. They’re also healthy and happy and love being together. And they're the exact right amount of crazy.
I have a loving husband of now 44 years that I am grateful for every day.
I also have the tremendous good fortune to live in a safe, comfortable place where all my basic needs are predictably met. I can work in my chosen profession and make a living at it.
Now you’ve heard my top gratitudes. I could go on, but you’d get tired of hearing mine. What about yours?
A wonderful benefit of a Thanksgiving holiday is that it often prompts us to stop, notice, and be grateful for what we have. This is a good thing. Psychological and medical literature both tell us that gratitude is healthy, both psychologically and physically. Gratitude has some of the same benefits as exercise.
I’m going to suggest that in the same way that we don’t just exercise once a year, we shouldn’t just be grateful once a year. We know that exercise is good for us. We know that the more regularly we do it, the better it is for us.
The same holds true for gratitude. It’s great any time you do it. But it’s value shouldn’t be limited to one prescribed day in the year. Every time you engage in gratitude you get healthier. Do you really want to do that only once a year?
We often don’t exercise as regularly as we should. So many things compete for our time and attention. The more we make a conscious commitment to it the more often it happens, with all the accompanying benefits.
The same holds true for gratitude. Even if we don’t do it as regularly as we could, every time we do it we reap the benefits. It too takes a conscious commitment. Why not take this Thanksgiving as the start of a new gratitude commitment. 
Figure out what works for you. For some people it means a weekly journal of the things in your life for which you're grateful. For some people it’s a ritual part of religious observances and services. For some people it means not getting out of bed in the morning until you've stopped to think about one particular thing for which to be grateful that day (perhaps the ability to get out of bed that day). For others it’s part of ending the day, stopping to notice one or more things for which you were grateful that day.
Just as with exercise, it’s important to figure out what kind of plan works for you. The key is not the plan but that you do it.
As an additional thought, may I suggest that gratitude for your own good fortune can be multiplied many times over by sharing it with others. If you’re aware of your own abundance, of whatever sort (money, food, clothing, friends, health), how about passing it on?

If you have the money, donate it to worthy causes that are meaningful to you. If you have the time, give that to those who need it from you (serve in a shelter, tutor an adult in literacy, pack backpacks for kids in need, help out an elderly neighbor, lend a hand or an ear or a shoulder). Make the effort to donate clothes or household goods to worthy charities. Give blood.
You get the idea. You have to find the expressions of gratitude that work for you. When you find them, exercise them regularly. You’ll be grateful for that too.