Thanksgiving is a holiday with a fraught history. But, no matter how you feel about the holiday the idea behind pausing and giving thanks, being grateful for things in your life, is a profoundly life-changing practice. Over the years, there have been numerous studies on the impacts that gratitude has on your brain and body. Among the many benefits, an article published in Psychology Today lists: people will like you more, you’ll sleep better, your psychological well-being will improve, your physical health will improve, you’ll have more energy to work on your goals, you’ll be a better leader, you’ll recover from hardship easier, you’ll feel less stressed, and you’ll feel better about yourself. That’s a lot of benefits! Especially for something that is free and has no side effects.

You can find the full article here. It even links to the studies that were done and specifics about how gratitude can do all those amazing things.

Several years ago, Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama wrote a book together simply called The Book of Joy. They talk a lot about how important gratitude is for a joyful and happy life. They recommend making a gratitude practice part of your day—specifically by closing your eyes and thinking about three things from your day that you are grateful for. The three things really can be anything. Then, they recommend writing them down so that you can go back and reread them. It may just change your life.

So, while it will be good to be grateful on Thursday, I’d challenge you to make this a routine part of your life so that you can find big and small reasons to be thankful each and every day.

I am grateful for you. And, I am grateful to be journeying with you.

Peace,
Fr. Chris