The Holidays, Gratitude, and YOU!

The holidays can be stressful. It is so easy to get swept up in all of the craziness that this time of year can offer us. Yes, offer us because we don’t have to choose stress and craziness if we remember to ask ourselves one very important question.

The questions we have to ask ourselves is whether or not we are focusing on the things that make us happy or on the the things that stress us out?

One of the areas to focus on to create more happiness is remembering to focus on all of the things you have…instead of focusing on the things that you don’t? IN OTHER WORDS – GRATITUDE!

So here is a list of 20 Questions to ask yourself if you should find yourself and your thoughts headed out into the oceans of “Stress, Unhappiness, or Don’t Haves!”

20 Things To Be Grateful For:

1. All the things you bought with your last paycheck that you couldn’t have if you weren’t getting one.
2. The 3 best lessons you learned from the 3 biggest mistakes you’ve made in your life.
3. 3 people that you could do something nice for this month.
4. 3 things you can do for those 3 people (at this point you might as well do them).
5. Your 3 favorite movies.
6. All of the freedoms you have because you live in the United States of America (or wherever you live).
7. The 3 best things that you smell when you walk into your favorite restaurant or bakery or just your 3 favorite smells.
8. The 2 best things that ever happened to you.
9. Your 3 favorite songs and the first time you heard them.
10. The best concert you’ve ever been to in your life.
11. The 5 things you love most about your children, spouse, partner, or friend.
12. The first time you kissed your first love.
13. 3 activities that make you extraordinarily happy.
14. 10 things you CAN do right now with the body you HAVE right now.
15. 5 people who impacted you in a positive way at some time in your life.
16. 3 nice things you can do for 3 complete strangers you meet in the next 3 days (it wouldn’t hurt to do them).
17. 5 things you can see when you look outside the window that you couldn’t if you were visually impaired.
18. 3 different sounds you can hear that you couldn’t if you were deaf.
19. 3 teachers that had the greatest impact on your life.
20. The total number of items you wrote down on the previous 19 lists that you are grateful for!

Remember that you choose your attitude based on what and where you focus your thoughts. You can choose to be grateful or you can choose to be unhappy by focusing on all you don’t have. It is your choice

Pulitzer Prize winning novelist and playwright Thornton Wilder said this about gratitude, “We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”

According to Thornton, focusing on what we have (our treasures) is a matter of  life or death.

For some reason this one seems like a no-brainer especially during the holidays…and for that my friends…I am grateful!

Happy Holidays!