Gratitude is NOT Just For Thanksgiving

This week social media has been bombarded with posts of what everyone is thankful for. Everything on my feed has been "I'm thankful for my family and friends" or "I'm thankful for my health." And though those are very important things to acknowledge, when all of my Facebook friends post the same generic message with a picture of their Thanksgiving feast or in their front yard with their families, it all starts to feel so forced.

Why is Thanksgiving the only day that people feel like they can acknowledge their gratitude for the good things in their lives? Aside from the fact that the holiday itself has extremely problematic origins (that is a whole other blog post), it is just ridiculous to me that people need a specific day to give thanks for the good things in their lives. This year it has seemed especially forced and fake because this Thanksgiving was not the usual family gathering Americans are used to (or at least it shouldn't have been if you care about keeping your family safe from COVID), yet the posts all were the exact same. It felt like people felt obligated to post their usually happy post, when really for many of those people who posted, yesterday was not a super happy day.

Gratitude is a practice we all should have in our lives everyday. There is a huge misconception it seems that the things we acknowledge being grateful or thankful for have to be the big things, all the time - health, a roof over your head, your family, friends, loved ones, etc. And yes, I am always grateful for all of those things, but acknowledging gratitude isn't always about the big things.

Every morning I start my day by making a list of five things from the day before I was grateful for. Things that brought me joy, peace or even just made me chuckle. This year it has become extremely important to me when things get hard (read: ALL OF 2020). It is a great way for me to check in with where my mind is at and make sure I don't let hard days overwhelm me.

Before you start screaming "toxic positivity", let me give you some examples of what I put on my gratitude list each day.

-I ate hella mashed potatoes yesterday

-I got a new sweater

-There were some really freaking funny TikToks on my For You page

-I made progress on my book

-I saw my grandma

-I slept through the night

-My students

-I watched a terrible yet hilarious Netlfix movie

Now you'll notice that some of these things are stupid, some are the big things in life, and some are just normal things that make me happy in my day. It becomes a good way to reflect on the things that I did the day before and to do a check in on my mental health.

If the list is all silly things like potatoes and TikToks, maybe I'm avoiding responsibility. And on the other end, if it's all the big things like family, shelter, a job, maybe I'm not in a great place and need to do some serious self care.

This has been my favorite journaling practice I've ever had and I highly recommend it! It really puts things into perspective in my daily life.

Here's the wrap up - gratitude is so important. There is absolutely nothing wrong with posting about gratitude on Thanksgiving or any other day. What I am frustrated with is the emphasis on having to post big posts about being thankful for only the big things in life just because of a holiday. Share your gratitude, for things big and small, when you feel it, not when society tells you it is "important" to reflect on it.

I'm grateful for each and every one of you that is reading this post... and also the insane amount of mashed potatoes I ate yesterday (because let's be real - the only good thing about American Thanksgiving is the food)!

xo,

Kayla