Thanksgiving is a lot of things: a time for family reunions and traditions, a turkey dinner with all the sides, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, plenty of football on TV, and the official start to the busy Christmas shopping season.
But if you strip away all of that, Thanksgiving is about gratitude. It’s a holiday simply for acknowledging the things for which you are grateful. And for most, these aren’t things at all. They are people, relationships, and experiences.
The amazing thing about gratitude and allowing yourself to feel thankful is that it is actually good for your health. People that practice gratitude feel better, have a stronger immune system, better heart health, and are less depressed.
Clinical trials conducted by researchers at UC Davis and UC San Diego both found that regularly giving thanks can lead to better sleep, lower blood pressure, and invite more positive emotions into one’s life.
In the studies, participants kept a “gratitude journal,” pausing each day to record that for which they were thankful.
With busy family schedules, work, and daily stressors, it’s easy to forget to be thankful. It takes effort to be mindful and allow oneself to feel gratitude. But thankfulness can bring purpose, peace, and good health. And we don’t need to wait until November to do it.
From all at Odom Design, we offer our sincerest thanks for a wonderful year full of experiences that let us get to know new people and create new relationships.