Thankful Thursday is a day to reflect on everything that makes you thankful. We love this idea because it's a powerful way to focus on the positive moments or people in your life.
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Discover 30 Days of Thankfulness for Thankful Thursday
With the Thanksgiving feast and the season of holiday giving, it's easy to think about thankfulness at this time of year. This is a wonderful time of memories and celebration as families and communities come together for Thankful Thursday, Thanksgiving, and beyond.
It feels good to count your blessings, whether it's a one-day celebration, a whole season, or every day throughout the year. Thankfulness also contributes to your health and wellness, ensuring that you have a well-balanced life.
So, the question is not whether we should be thankful. We all agree that we should. It's more about what steps you can take to start being more grateful more frequently, not just on Thankful Thursday.
What Are the Benefits of Thankfulness?
Thankfulness has 7 Scientifically Proven Benefits Of Gratitude That Will Motivate You To Give Thanks Year-Round. It's much more important than you might realize. With this in mind, here are a few benefits of thankfulness.
• Thankfulness builds relationships. When you say "thank you" and show your gratitude on Thanksgiving, Thankful Thursday, or every day, you create the perfect foundation for a beautiful friendship.
• It improves your health. When you're grateful for what you have and thankful for your life, you take better care of yourself.
• Thankfulness facilitates empathy. It's harder to get mad at someone if you're focusing on why you're grateful.
• It helps you sleep better. Have you tried jotting down everything you're thankful for each night before you go to bed? You may find that you have a better night of sleep.
• Thankfulness can lower stress. Studies show that gratitude reduces stress while making you better able to cope with anything you might face. They call it "mental strength."
What Can You Do for 30 Days of Thankfulness?
What steps can people take to show how they are thankful for each day? And how can they continue this trend well beyond 30 days and into the new year?
Create a Gratitude Jar
You might have a friend who keeps a "Kisses" jar. This friend gathers all the kisses her kids give her and mimes putting them in the jar to keep them safe forever. A gratitude jar is something along the same lines.
Cut up a bunch of paper slips and keep them close by. Then, regularly, write down a word, a name, or a thought representing your experience of What Is Gratitude. Fold them up one by one and place them in the jar. On a random Thankful Thursday or perhaps during Thanksgiving or Christmas festivities, you can open your jar and share your gratitude.
This can be a family activity, with everyone putting their "thanks" notes in the jar. Or, you could use the jar as a motivational tool. Fill it up with quotes about being thankful. Then, on bad days, you can fish out a quote to remind yourself to be thankful.
Write in Your Gratitude Journal
On a slightly more personal level, you can start or continue a Gratitude Journal to capture everything for which you're most thankful. If you've ever practiced journaling in the past, you know it can be an empowering way to lay bare some of those buried emotions. Allow yourself to see and understand how much you have to be grateful for each day.
Create a Gratitude Board
You may soon find there's too much for a simple journal. Or maybe you're more of a visual person. A whiteboard, pegboard, or even a chalkboard is the perfect surface to express yourself. Here are a few ideas for what you can incorporate into your board.
• Post pictures of loved ones.
• Doodle or draw about the things that mean a lot to you.
• Paint a picture that depicts some things for which you're most thankful.
• Print out an image from your favorite website.
• Post the card your child made for you.
• Write words that represent areas of thankfulness.
This is about getting creative and allowing yourself to see and immerse yourself in gratitude. It should be fun and eye-opening, but it can also be a shared experience. Let your family know what you're doing and why you've included them on your board. They can start their own boards too.
Challenge Yourself
Your life is a sum of your habits, but you can change those habits for Thankful Thursday and beyond. If you can't find time to try some thankfulness activities, challenge yourself. Perhaps loop your friends, family members, and even your team at work in on your challenge as well. Since it takes an average of 66 days for a habit to "take root," challenge yourself to share your gratitude for those days. Can you do it?
Say It Out Loud
Do you say, "Thank you"? If you do, you likely learned it from your parents. While saying these words is culturally acceptable, they have lost much of their meaning. You already know that thankfulness is empowering. What would happen if you honestly articulated your gratitude every day? Instead of saying, "Thanks," you could express why you're grateful.
• Say: "I'm thankful that you took time out of your busy schedule to help me. It means a lot to me."
• Or: "Wow, thank you. I don't know what I would have done if you didn't step in just then. I appreciate you very much."
• Even: "You made my day. I'm so thankful that I'm able to work with you. It's such a pleasure, and I'm grateful for your help."
Of course, you can adjust the thanks to fit the situation, whether at home, school, work, or even the local park. Get creative, and find ways to express your gratitude for Thankful Thursday and beyond. You'll soon discover that it's a great way to increase productivity, feel less stressed, and maybe even reduce your medical bills. Here's an Emotional Wellness Toolkit that's a great resource, with 6 strategies for improving your emotional health.
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