I grew up with a great custom on Thanksgiving. We would each be given some kernels of unpopped popcorn. Then we would pass around a bowl and we would drop a kernel in the bowl and say something we are thankful for. For mental health as well as physical health, being grateful is essential. If you aren't grateful your health will not be as good as it could be. If you want more in your life be grateful for what you have had, have now and will have. Dr. DeMartini says: " What you think about and thank about you bring about." Find some aspect in every hour to be grateful. If you need help with this.... GET IT. Take a minute when you wake up and a minute before going to bed. Review the day. Be grateful for what you like. It doesn't really take much time, only like..... 5 Minutes! But it makes a world of difference.
My father sent the following to me this Thanksgiving:
As noted in the Harvard Mental Health Letter:1
"Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible. With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives.In the process, people usually recognize that the source of that goodness lies at least partially outside themselves. As a result, gratitude also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals — whether to other people, nature, or a higher power."
Gratitude is also associated with improved health, both physical and emotional. Dr. P. Murali Doraiswamy, head of Biologic Psychology at Duke University Medical Center once stated that:2
"If [thankfulness] were a drug, it would be the world's best-selling product with a health maintenance indication for every major organ system."
