Living with Gratitude

Thanksgiving Day is early this year - Monday, October 9th. Which is perfectly fine with me. After all, how many of us can use a long weekend right about now?

The spirit of Thanksgiving is a wonderful one that I try to carry with me throughout the year. It's true that in this season of harvest, there's much abundance to be grateful for. Yet I find things, even small things, each day.

There are the fundamentals: the gift of breath, of life itself. Clean air, water, and fertile soil are certainly things many of us value more and more. Healthy, nutritious food. Space to call one's own. Gardens, parks and other green spaces along with waterside places calm us, connect us with our deepest selves, and nourish the soul.

Our relationships are other sources of gratitude and things we can always nourish. Friendships, family, colleagues, teachers, customers, mentors, neighbours, and fellow humans we interact with add colour and meaning to our lives. Thanksgiving is a great excuse to reflect on this.

While some people use Thanksgiving weekend to count their blessings, some also use it as a prompt for personal letter-writing. It's a wonderful time to write to someone who's inspired you, lifted you up or connected with you in some other way. Consider who you have gratitude for that you've never - or seldom - expressed. How do you think they'd respond to a card or note telling them what impact they've had on your life? How would you feel to receive such a gift?

And as great as receiving thanks from someone feels, we probably benefit most when we live in that space - that feeling of gratefulness. It's one of the fastest and best ways to pull ourselves out of a slump. Even five minutes jotting down a few highlights from our day can cascade into more discoveries and delights. Gifts seem to grow and multiply the more we focus on them.

A few works about Gratitude: 

• Gratitude by Oliver Sacks
• Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes
• The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown
• BlessBack by Julie Saffrin
• When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree by Jamie L.B. Deenihan

All of us at Figg Street Co. wish you a restorative and nourishing Thanksgiving Day and long weekend! Whether you have plans for quiet time and a hot bath, or you've a large gathering to attend, we hope you take a few minutes to savour all that's good in your life.