Give Thanks Every Day
October 9, 2016
I have always been a Fall girl through and through. Bring on the fresh notebooks, the new beginnings, the structure, the boots and the scarves, the golden and vibrant hues of the trees, the fireplaces on Sundays in the rain. And who does not love sitting down with our family, friends and loved ones to give thanks for our abundance, and a few short weeks later, connect with our neighbors, fill our doorways and yards with pumpkins and ghoulish decorations and watch children pour into the streets to show off their costumes and fill pillow cases with candy (soon be secretly pilfered parents). Yes, as August draws to an end, I can barely contain my excitement for the Fall.
Today, given the timeliness of this particular weekend, I want to draw attention to one of my great fall loves: Thanksgiving. One of the traditions in our family, as is true in many others, is that you are not allowed to leave the Thanksgiving dinner table without saying one thing you are thankful for. This is a fantastic tradition, and yet I dare say, not enough. This act of giving thanks needs to be embedded into our daily lives much more so than us average folk are doing. One of the people who influences Laurie and I’s approach to counselling is the brilliant Brene Brown. In her research she found that people who describe their lives as joyous or joyful have an intentional gratitude practice , not simply an attitude, but a tangible strategy for bringing gratitude to awareness.
Let me share with you one of the most frequently given homework assignments I use with my clients:
Buy a journal or a notebook. Leave it beside your bed. Every night at bedtime write down five things you are grateful for. Now, there are a couple rules: (1) No repeats; (2) It must be specific; and (3) It has to have happened that day. Here’s an example of what that might look like:
1. My 8-year-old held my hand leaving soccer practice (I don’t know how many more years she will do that).
2. The tree outside my window looked like it was sparkling this morning because of the heavy rain last night and sunshine this morning. The world is beautiful.
3. My partner picked me up a coffee because I slept in before work today.
4. A friend I haven’t spoken with in ages sent me a lovely text message.
5. My colleague printed off a ton of forms for me when my printer jammed and I was late for the meeting where I needed those forms.
The benefit of this strategy: we become trained to pay attention to the goodness in our lives; we become mindful, in-tune, and present. Brain research shows when we change our thinking consistently over time, we re-wire the neuro pathways so this type of thinking becomes automatic. And as Brene Brown’s research discovered: we open the door to joy.
One thing I would like to acknowledge is that life is hard. Often it is harder more often than not. Often the hardness is relentless. In the midst of this suffering it can seem impossible to find gratitude. For those of you in this place today, let me suggest using a gratitude practice as an anchor. Rather than aim for five things to be grateful for, simply look for one, or two, or three. Perhaps this practice could be something to keep you afloat during your most difficult moments. I am always amazed and inspired by the goodness that exists in the world during our greatest sorrows and tragedies. Looking for goodness does not undermine the suffering, yet it reminds us that suffering is not all there is.
I would love to hear your daily practices of gratitude, and perhaps share them on this blog if you are so willing. Private message me through Facebook if you have a practice you’d like to share with others.
Today I am thankful to sit in a quiet, clean house, with a cup of tea (Bengal Spice, if you haven't tried it, DO!), and write to you all.
Wishing you peace,
Christina
Today, given the timeliness of this particular weekend, I want to draw attention to one of my great fall loves: Thanksgiving. One of the traditions in our family, as is true in many others, is that you are not allowed to leave the Thanksgiving dinner table without saying one thing you are thankful for. This is a fantastic tradition, and yet I dare say, not enough. This act of giving thanks needs to be embedded into our daily lives much more so than us average folk are doing. One of the people who influences Laurie and I’s approach to counselling is the brilliant Brene Brown. In her research she found that people who describe their lives as joyous or joyful have an intentional gratitude practice , not simply an attitude, but a tangible strategy for bringing gratitude to awareness.
Let me share with you one of the most frequently given homework assignments I use with my clients:
Buy a journal or a notebook. Leave it beside your bed. Every night at bedtime write down five things you are grateful for. Now, there are a couple rules: (1) No repeats; (2) It must be specific; and (3) It has to have happened that day. Here’s an example of what that might look like:
1. My 8-year-old held my hand leaving soccer practice (I don’t know how many more years she will do that).
2. The tree outside my window looked like it was sparkling this morning because of the heavy rain last night and sunshine this morning. The world is beautiful.
3. My partner picked me up a coffee because I slept in before work today.
4. A friend I haven’t spoken with in ages sent me a lovely text message.
5. My colleague printed off a ton of forms for me when my printer jammed and I was late for the meeting where I needed those forms.
The benefit of this strategy: we become trained to pay attention to the goodness in our lives; we become mindful, in-tune, and present. Brain research shows when we change our thinking consistently over time, we re-wire the neuro pathways so this type of thinking becomes automatic. And as Brene Brown’s research discovered: we open the door to joy.
One thing I would like to acknowledge is that life is hard. Often it is harder more often than not. Often the hardness is relentless. In the midst of this suffering it can seem impossible to find gratitude. For those of you in this place today, let me suggest using a gratitude practice as an anchor. Rather than aim for five things to be grateful for, simply look for one, or two, or three. Perhaps this practice could be something to keep you afloat during your most difficult moments. I am always amazed and inspired by the goodness that exists in the world during our greatest sorrows and tragedies. Looking for goodness does not undermine the suffering, yet it reminds us that suffering is not all there is.
I would love to hear your daily practices of gratitude, and perhaps share them on this blog if you are so willing. Private message me through Facebook if you have a practice you’d like to share with others.
Today I am thankful to sit in a quiet, clean house, with a cup of tea (Bengal Spice, if you haven't tried it, DO!), and write to you all.
Wishing you peace,
Christina
Stay tuned: Fall 2024 Clients and community members will be invited to share their art- on what it means to be human, to suffer and to heal.
I often struggle with the concept of clinical diagnosis, in particular the common ones in our culture: anxiety and depression. My issue is simple: we too often take normal and valid feelings, that are part of the human experience, then medicalize them as problematic. The response then is to “get rid of” rather than be curious about what these emotions are trying to communicate to us. I have my own experience with on-again, off-again depression. When it’s at its worst, I’d certainly meet clinical criteria: a sense of hopelessness, low mood and motivation, isolation, wanting to sleep a lot but finding it evasive, lack of enjoyment for anything I have loved. You know the drill. But when we start to untangle the why, really look deeply at the list of ingredients making up this soup of depression (or anxiety or other struggles), we begin to realize that these feelings, in fact, make perfect sense. And they are trying to communicate something to us that deserves a listen. Rather than banish the depression or ignore the anxiety, we need to dig a little deeper. And your unique blend of experiences, or your soup (if you will), will help you figure out what you need to do to take care of yourself better. In my case, depression is almost ALWAYS trying to tell me I’m burnt out. It is the only part of me that will put me to bed, remove all pressure for productivity or replying to messages or emails. It wants or needs nothing from me except rest. Clients I work with might notice their depression is driven by underlying shame, or by feeling lost or stuck in their life. They might be carrying grief from losses not yet named or processed. Anxiety too- the world is a scary place right now, and we are so overly exposed to global and local traumas. Perhaps you didn’t feel safe in childhood and that fear has been carried in your body in your adult life. Perhaps you really are in an unsafe situation and your fear is trying to communicate this lack of safety to you. What I am trying to say is… A diagnosis of depression or anxiety does nothing to improve our well-being on a deeper level. We must become detectives of our own suffering. Only then can we learn to move with more self-compassion and grace, to set boundaries when needed, to let go of what we cannot control, to figure out what specialists we may need to see, to rest when we need to, to grieve the losses of our lifetime, and to feel the fears of uncertainty that we all face, every single day. This is where counselling helps. This is what we do. We help you untangle the mess, learn your ingredients, heal what needs to be healed so you can do what you need to do to feel better. Or to simply be with yourself more kindly when it hurts. Sending love, Christina
“To be human is to survive love and loss.” – Francis Weller