Thanksgiving, a Daily Habit

The week of Thanksgiving is, of course, an obvious moment in the year when we all tend to slow down. We pause, we gather with friends and family, we eat too much, we laugh, we reconnect, and somewhere in all of that, we give thanks. It’s built into the rhythm of the holiday. The calendar practically forces us to stop and acknowledge the good in our lives, even if the good feels a little thin some years. But what I’d submit for your consideration is this, giving thanks shouldn’t be a once a year moment, or even a seasonal rhythm. Gratitude is one of the healthiest habits you can build into your life, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, even physically. A simple daily practice of acknowledging what is good can change the tone of your entire day, and eventually, the tone of your entire life. All of us have different rituals around this. Some people have an active prayer life where the first minutes of the morning are already set aside for reading, meditation, prayer, or quiet reflection. For some, this is a formal, structured practice with Scripture readings or devotionals. For others, it’s a silent cup of coffee on the porch before the day starts. And for many people, honestly, for most people, this practice gets neglected. Not intentionally. It just slips through the cracks between the commute, the deadlines, the kids, the stress, the noise, and the next thing demanding our attention. But here’s the truth, giving thanks is far more than a ritual. It’s a posture. It’s an attitude with which we approach the world, and with which we approach ourselves. Gratitude has a way of recalibrating our inner life. It softens the sharper edges. It quiets the noise. It gives us perspective when circumstances try to convince us that the sky is falling. Gratitude is a way of telling your soul, “I see what’s wrong, but I also see what’s right. And the things that are right matter.” If giving thanks isn’t something you normally do, or if it’s something you’ve drifted away from over the years, the holiday season is a perfect time to start again, not as some long, formal, regimented exercise, but as a simple, intentional reminder built into your day. I even recommend time blocking for it. That might sound overly structured for something so personal, but here’s the reality, we time block for everything that matters, meetings, workouts, sales calls, prospecting, deadlines. If gratitude is one of the few things that can consistently improve the quality of your days, it deserves a spot on your calendar too. It doesn’t need to be complicated. Set aside five minutes, literally five. Sit quietly, breathe, and identify three things you’re thankful for. They don’t need to be extraordinary. In fact, the small things are often the most grounding, a warm house on a cold morning, a friend who checked in, a job that stretches you, the smile from someone you love, the fact that your body carried you through another day, or simply the truth that you woke up with another chance to get it right. And when life is difficult, and we all know it will be, this practice becomes even more important. Because no matter how hard your current situation feels, this too shall pass. It always does. And even in the middle of difficulty, there are still things worth acknowledging with gratitude. If you've been alive long enough, you know that things can always get worse, and the fact that they haven’t is something to be grateful for in itself. Gratitude doesn’t erase struggle. It doesn’t magically fix circumstances. What it does is shift your point of view. It protects your mental clarity. It preserves your sense of peace. It keeps you grounded in the truth that life is bigger than whatever challenge is sitting in front of you today. So as we step into Thanksgiving week, and then into the holiday season that follows, consider making gratitude a daily practice. Not once a year, not once in a while, but every single day. Start now. Carry it into the new year. Let it become one of those simple habits that shapes you into a more centered, more grounded, more present version of yourself. Set time aside to be thankful. You will not regret it.