Radical Gratitude: Unleashing Appreciation Beyond Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving. That word brings heartwarming memories for so many of us.

The aroma of fresh-baked pie. The sound of clinking plates and the laughter of family and friends. The predictable sight of your uncle asleep on the couch in front of the football game.

Thanksgiving. Few single words elicit such a bounty of warm, loving feelings.

It’s food, family, friends and fun. It’s bowed heads and lifted hearts. It’s home.

That’s one of the reasons it’s my favorite holiday. And while it may have its roots in the pilgrims’ feast back in 1621, Thanksgiving itself isn’t really a tribute to an event – it’s a celebration of gratitude.

As the date approaches, we become increasingly more oriented towards gratefulness. From the moment we wake up, the things we are thankful for fill our minds. That changes everything.

As an added bonus, we get to gather around with people we care about to, quite literally, give thanks together. (While we’re in an appreciative frame of mind, big thanks to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln making this a tradition and a national holiday!)

On Thursday, instead of obsessing about what we lack or wish we had, we focus on what we do have. We consciously appreciate and celebrate everyone and everything that adds to our well-being. This simple act – of active appreciation – elevates our energy and nourishes our heart.

So why don’t we give thanks every day of the year?

For just a second, think about how you feel on Thanksgiving. Great, right? That’s not just the wine and the tryptophan making you feel all warm and fuzzy inside… it’s gratitude working its way through your being.

Appreciation enhances so many aspects of our lives, including physical health, psychological health, empathy, and more. It even helps us sleep better – and those that know me know how much I value a good night’s sleep!

One of the reasons gratitude is so powerful is that it goes beyond our conscious minds to our subconscious. Essentially, it enhances our life without us even being aware of the impact it’s making.

So how can you extend the gratitude bonanza beyond Thursday’s feast?

Well, I can share with you one technique that’s as simple as it is transformative: Daily Gratitudes. All this requires is writing down a few things you’re grateful for every morning. That’s it. Shawn Achor, New York Times best-selling author of The Happiness Advantage, introduced me to this life-changing idea.

I followed his formula, starting each day by identifying three things I appreciated—big or small, trivial or exceptional—for 30 days. Personally, I prefer using Notes app on my phone, which is easy to access and created an ongoing and searchable record, but a pad and pen is just as effective.

Anyway, I loved it. (So much, in fact, that I ended up doing it for four months that first time, and I’ve revisited the practice many times since.)

By asking myself what I was thankful for, my focus and attitude underwent an immediate and monumental shift. My mind was filled with positive thoughts and feelings as I lay in bed. It took only a minute or two, and it quickly became a delightful and rewarding habit. Plus, it was fun!

As I went through my day, I tended to focus on all the good things in my life, just like on Thanksgiving. My subconscious thoughts and feelings joined the party as well… part of my brain was processing appreciation all the time.

This veritable geyser of gratitude made it easy to share my thankfulness with others, since it was practically overflowing in my life. Each interaction became a chance to let others know the little (or big) things I liked about them. Which only added to the warm feelings.

And here’s the kicker – after a while, I started to realize that I wasn’t limited to the joys in life. So many of the so-called problems I was dealing with were in fact doorways to personal discovery, opportunity, and growth. So I started appreciating those as well.  It was truly transformational.

I often get the question: Don’t you run out of things to write down? Actually, it ends up being quite the opposite. This orientation towards gratitude expands the universe of things to be thankful for. It could be the new person we met yesterday, the movie we’re going to see tonight, or the smell of the flowers in the garden… the possibilities are virtually limitless.

So why not let this Thursday be the beginning of 30 straight Thanksgivings? Just as an experiment… see how it feels to recognize what you’re grateful for on a daily basis. Pause for a moment to reflect, write it down and revel in the feelings it creates. I think you’ll find the results will be remarkable.

You’ll also discover another amazing thing: Appreciation is contagious. And once you’re infected, you become a carrier in the very best sense.

Happy Thanksgiving!