Episode 40: Thanksgiving, Gratitude and You
In this episode, I get personal. I share my favorite thing about my favorite holiday – Thanksgiving.
It’s a short and sweet reminder of the gifts that come with a gratitude practice and I share my all-time favorite tool I personally use every day that keeps me grounded in gratitude.
I’m grateful to you!
What You’ll Learn:
- My favorite gratitude quote
- The gifts inside dementia
- Permission to have the holiday you want
- My favorite tool to practice gratitude
- How to go deeper with your gratitude practice
Listen to the episode above or stream it on your favorite podcast app:
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Episode 40: Thanksgiving, Gratitude and You (Transcript)
How are you all doing? Are you enjoying these last couple of episodes on gratitude?
If you need to catch up you can access the episodes here…
I have loved hearing from those of you who took the time to email me or comment on a social media post. I’m grateful for you and your ideas.
When this episode airs, it will be the week of Thanksgiving and I will be up to my elbows in pie dough and flour. Sounds so fun, right?
This is my favorite holiday of all time. Truly. Over the many years, I’ve been hosting my family and friends, I still feel all the feels around the preparation for this amazing day.
My Gratitude For Thanksgiving Week
I take the entire week off and I do that because I used to try to get everything done the night before and then cook all day. Way too much to do and then I didn’t enjoy myself because I was so fried. Me, not the turkey.
So Monday, I do my grocery shopping for all the fresh items because I get the pantry items earlier in the month.
Tuesday is table-setting day. I iron the tablecloths and napkins. I get the Thanksgiving decorations out of storage for our table and around the house.
I use my grandmother’s Thanksgiving dishes that my dad gave me years ago. They are at least 75 years old and have a pattern that looks like the song lyric “over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house we go…”
I take my time arranging the plates, silver and crystal. I decorate with leaves and acorns, candles and pumpkins. It is my way of being creative and I don’t want to rush it. Then I lay out all the serving pieces that I’ll be using to make sure I have everything ready.
I love taking this time. It feels so spacious and luxurious, which I realize I need to do more often.
When it’s done, I send a photo to the kids and I always get the same response – “Oh Mom, it looks beautiful! Can’t wait to eat!” Makes me laugh.
Wednesday is pie day and that has been a tradition for a long time. I used to make pies with my friend Sandi after I learned she had never made a pie before. I couldn’t believe it!
How was this possible?
Well, I got my answer shortly after she started mixing the pie crust together. She wasn’t much of a baker. I think we talked way more than we concentrated on recipes, which was evident when we had to start over on more than one occasion.
I can’t tell you how much we laughed when we rolled out the dough. It always looked like an amoeba. LOL.
Then we added my daughter, Haley, to our tradition and discovered something amazing: She could roll out a pie crust in a perfect circle – AND get it into the pie plate without it falling apart.
She was in!
Last year I lost my dearest friend to cancer and while she’s not with us physically, she is still in our hearts. We bring her to hang with us via photos we have framed from our pie making days. Haley and I create the sugary goodness while reminiscing and laughing. I’m grateful for those memories and the fun we have.
Then it’s the big day. Lots of chopping, sauteing, roasting, basting – it’s all going on – and I love it.
My family gathers and any friends that aren’t with their families and we hang out waiting for the buffet to be ready. My dad is always very proud of the turkey I put on the big platter which matches the plates on the table. Anything that makes him smile, especially now, fills my heart.
I know this episode seems a bit sappy – and you know what? I’m completely OK with that. My childhood memories of holidays are pretty hit or miss. Some were good and some not so much, so the fact that I have such beautiful memories of holidays with my family is pretty special to me.
Funny how our society creates all these expectations around two days out of the year. We’re supposed to have a Currier & Ives kind of holiday, but what if that’s not how your family rolls?
What if that’s the furthest thing from your reality?
Let go of expectations and embrace the reality that you have. Spend time with friends instead. It’s OK. You get to take care of yourself and do what keeps you safe emotionally, and what feels good.
So how do you get into this holiday when you’re not feeling it?
Practice gratitude
I know I sound like a broken record and that this month has been all about gratitude. There’s a reason for that. It can literally change your life.
I know it did mine. When I quit drinking almost 20 years ago, gratitude for my life and the people in it, was what got me through each day. Watching my dad’s dementia progress has been so hard – and there are things within it that I’m grateful for. Things like he still has a sharp wit, can play cards like a shark and laughs way more than he ever did.
Gratitude has gotten me through so many really tough times, and it’s made those wonderful times even richer. It HAS changed my life because it’s changed who I am.
One of my favorite quotes is from Melody Beattie:
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
Isn’t that the core of what we all want?
I have something I want to share with you. It’s a tool I’ve used for many years now and I love it.
It’s called the Five Minute Journal and I use it every day. When I’m centering myself in the morning, I fill out the prompts and before I go to bed at night, I do the same. It’s a beautiful way to bookmark my day with gratitude.
You can’t fill this out without feeling gratitude. I invite you to try it. Put it on your gift list or buy it for yourself. The questions are easy to answer, but they make you pause and think.
Take a look around you. There’s so much here for you to be grateful for.
- Are you healthy? So grateful.
- Do you have a job? So grateful.
- Is your tummy full at the end of each day? So grateful.
- Do you have people around you who love and support you?
- Do you have a pet who shows you love no matter what?
- Do you have a warm bed to crawl into at the end of the day? So, so grateful.
Go beyond the basics when you’re filling out your journal. Look at your beliefs, your brilliance, your gifts and say a big thank you for those.
This is a short episode this week I know. But I wanted to pop in and tell you about the journal. Give it a go, OK? I know you’re going to love it.
And I would be grateful if you would share my podcast with people in your world and give it a 5-star review. It’s how I can reach more people, so thanks in advance.
Okay my friends, I gotta run. My pies are calling.
Until next time, remember:
I believe in you – and I’m so grateful you’re here.