11/1/24 - Can you be grateful for 30 DAYS Straight? Let’s find out!
So you think you can be grateful for 30 days straight? It’s an interesting challenge and one I take every year during the month of November, and it has truly changed the way I feel about the holidays and a lot of other things as well. Join me and we can take on this challenge together to see how it changes your perspective on the holiday season and life in general.
Hello my lovelies! Welcome to the Moving Toward Better Podcast. I’m your host, Karen Bemmes, and today we’re talking about the benefits of gratitude and how it can improve your life in every way.
Before we dive in, I want to make it clear that what I am about to share are experiences from my own life and what I learned along the way. Your situation may be different, and this is no substitute for financial, medical or mental health intervention if your situation warrants it. This podcast series is designed to help people understand themselves and others better based on their personalities. It is not intended to diagnose or treat any mental or physical condition. If you suspect you or a family member is at risk of physical or mental harm, please seek proper medical help immediately.
For those who are new to the podcast, when I talk about personalities, communication and relationships, I use the DISC personality model of behavior and refer to people as D or Driven, I or Inspired, S or Supportive, and C or Cautious. You can find links to take your own Personality Assessment in the Show Notes.
So, let’s get started. According to an article by Positive Psychology called 14 Benefits of Practicing Gratitude, the benefits of gratitude are many and sometime surprising, and we’re going to get into that
Now, I know there are many people who will roll their eyes when I tell them that gratitude changed my life, but it’s so very true because it helps me see how some of the worst things that happened to me could be turned into a blessing, and I know that’s hard to hear that, especially if you’re in an unhappy place right now.
And I’m not talking about pretending there are no challenges and darkness in the world because this isn’t some kind of airy, fairy thing. This is a practice of gratitude based on mindful thoughts and perspectives on some of the most difficult situations in my life and others that I know. Stay with me, and I think you’ll see what I’m talking about.
According to the Positive Psychology article, these are the benefits of a gratitude practice
1. increased happiness and positive mood
2. more satisfaction with life
3. less materialistic
4. less likely to experience burnout
5. better physical health
6. better sleep
7. less fatigue
8. lower levels of cellular inflammation
9. greater resiliency
10. encourages the development of patience, humility, and wisdom
I would add that, for me, when I am in a state of gratitude, the level of calm I feel is deep and grounded, and I am so much less judgmental of myself and others, and it’s why I continue to do the 30 day gratitude challenge, because it reminds me of how much better I feel when I live this way.
This is especially important for me and people like me when we deal with seasonal depression that can be debilitating at this time of year. It’s one more tool in the arsenal to keep my mood up and get through the day feeling good about myself and life and not dragging myself through the day only to give up at lunch and flop on the couch for the afternoon.
It also helps with difficult family members through the holidays, and lately, it helps me get through the election cycle here in the US that has become so full of vitriol. Gratitude is truly a balm for the soul, but I am not talking about positive thinking.
When something is difficult, it’s 100% ok to talk about it, especially if you’re looking for solutions to your struggles, but gratitude keeps the struggle in perspective.
You see, I detest when something is inconvenient or irritating and people call it the worst. I’ve seen people call a paper cut or a hang nail ‘the worst’, which is absolutely ridiculous. I keep scrolling when I see that, but my thoughts are always, really? That’s the worst thing that has happened to you? What a lucky person you are.
I know it’s essentially hyperbole, but on the same day, I’m also seeing videos of people who have literally lost everything they own in the floods of Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina who are grateful to be alive.
Recently, I saw a video of a 92 year old woman who has lived in that area since 1956. Her daughter and son in law drove over to check on her and within minutes, they couldn’t get back to their truck because the river by their house was rising so fast.
They looked out the back door and the water was pooling but not rushing yet, so they pushed their way out and held onto one another as they climbed up the pasture to the neighbor’s house in the pouring rain. The end of that video shows her house with water up to the roof and her son in law saying, “no, no, no!” as her house was washed off of its foundation and down the mountain.
That woman has nothing left. No worldly possessions. But she’s grateful to be alive and is grateful that her family is alive. That’s actually something I have seen and heard over and over, that people are grateful to be alive, especially if their family made it, when they know so many others did not.
Sometimes it takes something serious, like Hurricane Helene, to shake people up to realize how blessed they are, while others can only wallow in the loss, and before you come at me, I have lived through our home being flooded three times, one a few inches of water, one about a foot, and one was four feet of millcreek water.
If you don’t know what the Millcreek is, Wikipedia defines it as ‘The Mill Creek is a stream in southwest Ohio. It flows 28.4 miles (45.7 km) southwest and south from its headwaters in Liberty Township of Butler County through central Hamilton County and the heart of Cincinnati into the Ohio River just west of downtown. The section of Interstate 75 through Cincinnati is known as the Mill Creek Expressway.’
Throughout Cincinnati's history, the Mill Creek has been the dumping ground of heavy industry until conservation efforts. At the turn of the 20th-century, it was seen as "a great open city sewer". In 1997, it was described as "the most endangered urban river in America. There were no fish, e. coli was rampant, and it was dangerous to even float on the river, let alone swim in it.
We had four feet of that water in our basement in 2000 and had to wade out of our home carrying a newborn baby and our fluffy chow chow dog. Thankfully, (see? There’s that gratitude thing) our older two boys were sleeping at a relative’s house so we didn’t have to make two trips.
Maybe because of my own dealings with floods, this situation in Western North Carolina has caught my attention. At first, the perspective was that no matter what inconvenience was happening in my life, at least I wasn’t running for my life from a flood or left without power or water for days on end.
That was especially helpful when we lost power for a little over 24 hours and got some water in our basement from the heavy rains from Helene in freaking Ohio.
Then the relief efforts started, and through people I know that live in that area, I began to see people helping people, businesses helping people or sharing their resources, the North Carolina National Guard stepping in to help and of course, FEMA. I was equally amazed at the devastation and the stories of how people, businesses, the military and the state and federal governments responded.
In a time of vitriolic politics, it was a wonderful thing to see that people who were helping and people being helped forgot about that and just took care of one another. It truly restored my faith in humanity and the country I remembered growing up in, and I pray that continues to be who we are, regardless of who gets elected next week.
So, let’s talk about the 30 days of Thanks Gratitude Challenge.
If you don’t follow the Moving Toward Better Facebook page I suggest you do that starting today. I’ll put the link the notes of the podcast and description of the YouTube video.
Every day in November, I’ll be posting a gratitude post, something I’m grateful for that day. It may be something you’re grateful for too, or it might spark something you’re grateful for. That’s it, although I would love it if you interact with the posts if it helps you or inspires you in some way. You never know who else you might inspire, and who doesn’t love a win-win?
If you really want to dive in, get yourself a journal and write about something you’re grateful for each day and challenge yourself to write something different every day. You might be amazed how deeply you have to dig after a week or so, I know I did, but because I had to dig, I started thinking about what I do want in my life and since I started this practice, I’ve truly adjusted my life accordingly.
It’s part of why I created the Happiest Holidays Planner with my friend Jeannine Rose. We truly want you to have a holiday season filled with peace and joy and gratitude, and it’s why we included pages in the planner to write down what you’re grateful for that you can revisit in the future and see how your gratitude practice can deepen and grow in every part of your life.
Not sure how to get started? Here are some suggestions from the article I mentioned earlier that I linked in the notes and description
1. Journal about things, people, or situations in your life for which you are grateful. Consider including negative situations like avoiding an accident, for instance.
2. Think about someone for whom you are grateful you may not know well, but you do know they’re doing great things in the world. Dolly Parton comes to mind for me.
3. Write a gratitude letter or thank you note to someone for whom you are thankful. Even a short card can change someone’s day, children included.Challenge yourself to write one hand-written note every week for one month. I did this, and it was actually pretty fun to hear back from the people I wrote to. Not all of them responded, but most did, and that was so cool.
4. Meditate on gratitude (present moment awareness) and think about what’s going on around you. Do you have heat? Is the sun out? The possibilities are endless.
5. Do the “Count Your Blessings” exercise (at the end of the day, write down three things for which you were grateful) You woke up. You had hot water to shower in. You had food for your meals. Again, the possibilities are endless.
6. Practice saying “thank you” in a real and meaningful way. Be specific. For example, “Thank you for taking the time to read this article and leave a comment. I enjoy reading your contributions because they broaden my understanding of this subject.”
7. Recall a negative event from your past that you are grateful for today. This one can be tricky, but for me, my divorce is one of those events for sure. I was so unhappy in my first marriage, and I have now been happily married for over 30 years. At the time my divorce was happening, I thought it was the worst thing in the world. Turns out, it was merely making way for the best thing that has ever happened to me.
8. Be mindful of your five senses. I remember the first time I put on glasses at age 7. Until then, I didn’t know you could see individual leaves on trees, bricks in a building or blades of grass. Our senses are amazing.
9. Create visual reminders to practice gratitude. Sticky notes, notifications, and mirrors are great for this. So are digital photo frames because you can see multiple images of moments in your life that are truly wonderful. On mine, I have pictures of my family, fun moments in life and stunning photos we’ve taken while traveling. Sunsets are my particular favorite, and I’ve got a couple of absolutely amazing ones. The link for that photo frame is in the notes and description.
10. Focus on the good that others have done on your behalf. Even if you’ll never send them a note or letter, there are probably people from your past that have positively impacted your life. Maybe it’s a teacher, coach, former boss, neighbor or friend. You may never tell them about what they did, but you can cherish the memory and be glad it happened.
11. Look for opportunities to feel grateful. They’re there every day. This week, we were at Costco and decided to wait for a primo spot where a couple were unloading their cart. As they got to the end of their unloading, I got out of the car and offered to take their cart since we were waiting for their spot. They were delighted not to have to return the cart, and we got into the spot quicker. The best part of the story is that after unloading our cart, someone offered to take our cart too, not only at Costco but at Kroger too. Pretty cool, huh?
12. Go without something you like for a bit. This is why I’ve always liked the season of lent. I have friends who grew up catholic and a husband who did as well, and I always admired how my friends and husband gave things up for lent, and it was usually something they really liked. I was so impressed that when my husband and I started dating, I started giving things up too. In some cases, like the year I gave up Cheetos because I was eating them every day, I didn’t go back, and I knew that was healthier for my body. In other cases, I couldn’t wait to break that fast, like the year we gave up red meat, and contrary to popular belief, I never stopped craving it for the entire 40 days, and no, we are not the type of family that says you can have it on Sundays. In my husband’s family, that would absolutely be cheating. But I can tell you that the first bite of red meat and probably for several months after, every time I bit into a delicious meal, I was truly grateful for it. I apologize to the vegetarians and vegans out there, but this body functions better with meat. I tried and failed to take it out of my diet and ended up having to remove gluten instead. Oh well!
So, are you ready to jump into the 30 days of Thanks gratitude challenge with me? An entire month of gratitude can change so much of your life for good, so let’s do this together.
Leave a comment and let me know what you’re grateful for today, and make it family friendly because that’s what we’re about here.
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Keep moving toward better whatever that means for you and know that I am grateful for each and every one of you. Love you all!
