
Thanksgiving gives me a forum to openly express
my thanks to family and friends seated around the dinner table; tell them how
much good they bring to my life, how much their support continues to make the
journey easier and how much they mean to me. The reality is that expressing gratitude
and acts of kindness should not just be reserved for Thanksgiving. It should be
all year round; not just for the sake of doing it, but because it’s sincere and
meaningful. It doesn’t cost a thing and yet difference a simple “thank you” can
make in someone’s life is priceless. Here’s the bonus – expressing gratitude
and thanks is good for you! Studies show that the benefits of expressing gratitude
can improve physical health, emotional health, make you more optimistic, help
you sleep better and even live longer.
It’s not always easy to express gratitude. Face,
it, life is not always kind; bad things happen and sometimes we are engulfed in
negativity. But I read an article the other day that basically said there is
always something to be grateful for; you just need to look for it. It’s worth a
try.
With wishes for the happiest of Thanksgivings
to all, I leave you with two quotes that I believe sum it all up. Enjoy.
“As we
express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is
not to utter words, but to live by them.” John F.
Kennedy
“Feeling
gratitude and not expressing it, is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” William
Arthur Ward
Posted
by MJ Thomas