Here in America, November is a time of giving thanks for the abundance of the harvest. This is typically celebrated with family and friends, a big harvest meal, and football games on Thanksgiving day.

Every November on my blog, I tend to focus on gratitude, in keeping with the season. The practice of gratitude costs little and offers big returns on investment. Since I am a strong advocate of practices that support your well-being, resilience, and healthy relationships, I want to offer five benefits to you of regularly training your thinking towards gratitude.

  1. Acknowledging the positive things in your life helps you shift your focus from the negative to the positive. A tendency to focus on what isn’t going well and what you don’t have contributes to anxiety and depression, as well as just downright negativity. Shifting from thoughts about negative things to noticing positive things in your life can help your overall mood and well-being.
  2. Appreciation is a form of gratitude. Showing or verbalizing appreciation to others improves your own good feelings and helps those in your life to feel valued. Being grateful for the other people in your life and helping them feel valued strengthens relationships.
  3. Taking stock of what is valuable in your life and what is still stable and going well strengthens your resilience during times of stress, challenge, or hardship. This mindset helps people find there way through and out of hardships.
  4. Gratitude cultivates a belief in goodness– belief in goodness in others and in the world. It encourages us to appreciate others and the world around us. Ultimately this attitude encourages both being helpful to others (which is good for you!) and to seek out others for help and support (also good for you!). Seeking help is an adaptive coping strategy. Helping others is good for your mood.
  5. Gratitude is a practice that can be learned. Shifting your focus to noticing goodness and appreciating what is positive in your life and in the world is something you develop as a habit. It’s a habit that will benefit you in many ways. I suggest a daily practice, because consistency builds good habits. Find something that you do every day (such as eat breakfast or some other meal, or waking or going to bed)  and connect it with taking a few minutes to focus on or write down at least 5 things for which you are grateful. These things can be big or small.

Before bed, before a meal, on your drive to work or on a walk, focus on the things that are good in your life. Examples include: you can use your eyes/ legs/ arms, sunshine, access to healthy foods, your pet, a friend or family member, recent good news, flowers, an act of kindness, transportation, chocolate…. Once you get started, notice the benefits and notice how your ability to find goodness expands!

Why miss out on all of the benefits of gratitude by only giving thanks once a year? This Thanksgiving, give thanks as the launch of your daily gratitude practice.