Giving Thanks On Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is right around the corner! ‘Tis the season to watch football, spend time with your friends and family, and indulge in the best foods of the year. Often a favorite holiday for many, it’s a great time to enjoy the perfectly browned turkey, the candied sweet potatoes or the green bean casserole. Well, before you do that, why not take a moment to ponder the real meaning of Thanksgiving?

The hidden powers of being grateful

A polite “thank you” brings a warm smile to the face. In fact, gratitude is not only an emotion but also a personality trait. Not to mention that a little gesture of thankfulness can have literal positive impacts on your brain. Yes, gratitude leads to benefits for your mental health! In fact, a study found that when put through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), people who experienced gratitude showed greater activation in the prefrontal cortex. This is the brain region associated with moral cognition, value judgment, and theory of mind.

As you can see, simply being thankful can be extremely beneficial for your mental health. This not-too-taxing act can yield great results. Counting blessings lessens the possibility of low spirits by giving many reasons to be happy. It also helps one stay away from toxic emotions.

Gratitude for a better senior health

As we age, being grateful can be challenging due to deteriorating physical and mental health. However, gratitude can greatly influence older adults. It can do wonders for their health. It can help them stay happy and stress-free.

Rather than being a couch potato and using age as an excuse, thankfulness will help you stay more active. It will motivate you to exercise more, which will, in turn, give you more years to blow the candles with your family. “Thank you(s)” will also strengthen your relationships with your younger family members and will help you improve your memory. It will make your brain work as you think of things to be grateful for.

What can I be grateful for?

2020 has made us suspicious of thankfulness. We wonder if there is anything left to be grateful for. But there is always a silver lining! However, we think there are still many reasons to be thankful this Thanksgiving and there are ways you can show gratitude and love.

• Make your parents and grandparents feel special this Thanksgiving. Sincerely thank them for their always being there, for their support, love, warm hugs, and kisses.
• Be thankful for your friends. They boost you up when you are low and are always there for you through thick and thin.
• Be thankful for your failures. Weird, right? But failures are better than regrets, and they’re the stepping stones of your success.
• Be thankful for nature. It consoles you in times when you feel lonely. So, don’t forget to say your “thank you(s)” to it.
• Lastly, be grateful to yourself. Stand before the mirror. Smile. And thank your soul and body for making it so far!

There you have it, friends. Make sure you include all these reasons in your Thanksgiving speech this year!