5 Tips to Make Every Day a Gratitude Day

Last updated on: November 26, 2015 at 7:44 am by Mastura Debra Graugnard

5 Tips to Make Every Day a Gratitude Day 2015-11-26T07:44:44-05:00 Mastura Debra Graugnard

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gratitude-word Today in the US we celebrate the day of Thanksgiving. However, for many, the celebration of this day is controversial.

This holiday marks the day Pilgrims invited Native Americans to share in a harvest after a successful growing season. The year before, their crops had failed, and many of the Pilgrims starved to death.

Then a local Native American tribe taught the Pilgrims to grow corn, beans and squash, leading to an abundance of sustenance for which they were grateful.

This story sounds like a time of abundance and generosity shared between the native people and immigrant settlers. But, as is evident in the states, settlers pretty well wiped out the natives and took their lands. It was a brutal genocide.

I grew up in a traditional US home celebrating Thanksgiving every year. My family welcomes any opportunity for a celebration. As in many families, this day is marked with people coming together, sharing feasts, watching football, and in our family there’s always a competitive spirit in our own round of games.

However, as I began to understand the broader story behind what was being celebrated in this holiday, I decided to opt out. My grandmother was half Native American. Partaking in a holiday that celebrates a gain that came about alongside the genocide of any people seems like a betrayal – to my grandmother, yes, and to of all humankind.

I have made a promise to God to love and serve all of creation without separation. Closing my eyes to the uncomfortable sides of the story doesn’t fit with that promise. Yet, love, acceptance, forgiveness and gratitude do fit.

Now that I’m a little older, I am discerning. I love the time with family, and now that they’re a little older too, it’s harder to get everyone together in one place. If there is an opportunity to gather with the loved ones, at least the majority of them, I will take it.

In my heart and my prayer, I pray for peace, love, acceptance and forgiveness to prevail above all. And I am grateful for the fellow travelers in my life – all of them – and for the gifts we’ve been given – on the day we’ve named Thanksgiving Day and on every day!

In every day there is darkness and light, sadness and joy, opportunities for forgiveness and for love. It can be tricky to live in gratitude with eyes wide open. Yet, there is wisdom in focusing on the positive. Gratitude is one of those tools that can help us genuinely find the positive in every situation.

I want to share with you 5 daily life habits that make every day a day of gratitude:

Wake each morning and, before you even get out of bed, think of 1 thing you are grateful for. Take 3 full breaths with this thought on your heart, and give yourself space to feel the gratitude.
Be grateful for your feelings, even the uncomfortable ones. Feelings and emotions are the great messengers that give us information to navigate this earth journey and discern truths for ourselves. They carry wisdom beyond what the mind has learned. Cherish them!
Give thanks for your fellow travelers – all of them. We are all reflections of one light, and we are here to help each other find the truth of the source from which we came and which we have not left, but have only temporarily forgotten.
With each meal, say a prayer of Thanksgiving. Every day. Every meal. This helps in so many ways beyond just being grateful for provision. When you feel gratitude, you let go of stress and negativity. This puts your body into the Rest & Digest mode of the parasympathetic nervous system, which your body needs to better digest what you’re eating and bring you better health overall!
As you go to sleep at night, reflect on at least 1 thing you have to be grateful for from your day, and again let yourself feel it.

Have a beautiful day! Whatever you celebrate, I hope you celebrate Gratitude!
Blessings and gratitude for you,
Mastura

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