Playing with Gratitude

For those of us that live in the United States Thanksgiving is upon us. This is the holiday that we typically spend with friends, family and take time to be grateful for what we have in our lives.

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This year looks really different and practicing gratitude in the conventional ways of “list five things you are grateful for” feel very trite to me. For some reason, that practice has just never worked for me!

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Here’s a different approach to consider: Instead of writing a list write a letter of gratitude for someone each day for the next week. It can be someone you’ve know a long time or someone you met in passing, like that Uber driver who made your day with their kindness.

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A study at UC Berkeley showed that this practice significantly improved the mental health of a group of people who were seeking mental health counseling. If there was ever a time to start a gratitude practice now would be it.

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I talk about this idea in today’s solo The Recess Life episode. Check it out on iTunes, Spotify or YouTube.

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Even though life looks really different this year there is still so much opportunity and possibility. I’ll be here to help you find it as much as possible.

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Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

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PS. If you need some ideas on how to think about Thanksgiving differently this year check out this New York Times article about thinking like an improviser.

PPS. If you need some music to feel good may I suggest BLASTING this playlist?

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