My personal reflection of gratitude and appreciation on Thanksgiving

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, I’m reminded that we should aspire to express gratitude and appreciation year-round.   Being truly grateful for what is already present in my life has certainly helped attract even more good.

And even as difficult and challenging situations arise, I try to be grateful for what I’m learning through them.  It is often through these situations that I experience the most profound growth, learning to view each apparent obstacle as an opportunity to develop a new quality, strength, skill, insight or wisdom – and to be grateful for the lessons.

Earlier this year, I started keeping a "Gratitude and Acknowledgment" journal. It has proved to be a valuable tool in developing my awareness. My journal is not full of long and drawn out diary entries.  Rather there are just short, simple lists of things I’m grateful for on a particular day. I even put in a few photos and clippings.  It’s been good to look back through on tough days, too.

At our office each Friday afternoon, before going home for the weekend, we take a few minutes to review the week. We think about the week’s events. We select 3-5 people that we are most grateful for. There is no right or wrong; just whomever we are sincerely grateful for on that particular week. It may be the client who supported us, the supplier who gave us a kind word, the co-worker who helped us feel good about what we created. As we go around the room, I can feel the energy from gratitude and appreciation.

So especially on Thanksgiving, I’m taking a moment to acknowledge the changes that are occurring for our company and for me personally. I’m writing them down. I acknowledge the positive developments (and sometimes downright miracles) that can and do occur on a daily basis. They are happening all around me. So I notice them and honor them.  I truly believe that my continued expressions of joy and gratitude will draw even greater joy, love, and abundance into my life.

Thanks especially for my family, my friends, my colleagues, and my clients who make my “journey” so gratifying.