Thanksgiving

We got a couple days off from school for the Thanksgiving holiday, so I decided to go home. Kim and I live in the same town, so we drove down together.

It was a fun five hour drive.

I arrived home on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and I finally got to meet my beautiful niece. I have an older sister, and two younger brothers, and my sister recently gave birth to her first child. I was anxious to finally get to meet her, because I couldn't afford to just go home on the week she was born.

She was so tiny and beautiful! I fell in love with her. Needless to say, her aunt is going to spoil her with tons of DIY gifts.

Thanksgiving was really great. I have a huge family. My dad is one of eleven kids, so get-togethers with his family are always pretty crazy. Most of my dad's side lives in Edinburg, while my grandma, aunts, and uncles from my mom's side live in Omaha, Nebraska. So, we spent this Thanksgiving with my dad's side of the family. 

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Not only do you have an amazing home cooked meal, family time, and football, but you truly realize all of the things you should be thankful for. 

Thanksgiving is a reminder to sit back, relax and really appreciate all that you have.

A few weeks ago, I came across a video series on YouTube by SoulPancake called "The Science of Happiness." (You can check out their channel here)

One of my favorite videos by them is The Science of Happiness - An Experiment in Gratitude.

In the video, the test subjects are asked to take a test that measures their level of happiness. Then, they are told to think of someone influential in their life, and to write down as much as they could about that person and why they were important. After they finished, they were asked to call that person and read the letter out loud to them. Before they left, they took the same initial happiness test (reworded and reordered).

The results of the experiment showed that, overall, all of the test subjects showed an increase in their level of happiness after expressing their gratitude.

A lot of people don't express their thankfulness. It can be difficult to tell someone how you really feel. It can be almost embarrassing. But, why don't we all share how grateful we are for those around us on a daily basis if in turn it would make us happier people? 

Although it can be initially difficult to express how appreciative we are, we can all do small things to help us be more open to communicate our gratitude.

We can start by saying thank you more to people who do random nice things for us (such as hold the door open for us). We can accept compliments as they're given instead of trying to defy them. We can randomly text people who we love, that we love them. We can write someone a nice Facebook wall post, or give them a hand written note. We can stop complaining about the things we don't have, and be happy for what we do.

Think about it: how would you feel if someone reminded you just how much they appreciated what you do for them? You'd be happy. And, in turn they would be happy. Happiness radiates; it's contagious.

So, I hope Thanksgiving reminded you just how lucky you truly are. Make it a point to say Thank You, to say I Love You, and to remind those around you how much you appreciate them on a daily basis.

How do you express how grateful you are?

-TBCG