One evening, I wanted late night Chinese food unfortunately, by the time I got to the Chinese place, the restaurant was closed. There was a bus stop right on the corner and I could tell the bus driver was sitting there longer than normal. I parked in front of the Chinese restaurant to figure out where I could get food at a place that would be open at that time of night.

As I looked over at the bus, I noticed this underweight skinny woman slowly getting off the bus. I went back to look at my phone and as I looked up again, I see her coming over to my vehicle. She was wearing a light pink tank top and blue jean shorts. She was holding a plastic bag tied at the top by the two handles.

I rolled down my window and she said, “Can you please help me? The bus driver kicked me off the bus and I have no money, no phone, and I don’t even know where I am.” 

I looked in my phone for the first shelter I could find, and I called the number. The lady on the phone asked how old she was. I asked the woman and she said 32.  The lady on the phone said they only took teens since they were a youth shelter only. 

As I was on the phone, the homeless 32-year-old woman was smoking a cigarette outside my car.  She asked, “Is it okay if I smoke a cigarette outside your vehicle?”  I said, “Yes that is okay.” 

As I was on the phone getting transferred around trying to figure out where to take her.  She said, “Can you take me to the emergency room?”  I said, “Get in.” 

Normally I wouldn’t help someone like this for safety reasons, especially since I was alone at the time, but I decided she was harmless.

She got in the vehicle and she was trying to make conversation. She asked me a few questions, and I would answer. I had a hard time knowing what to say to her. I asked her what her story was, and she said she had been abused. Due to her trauma, she became addicted to drugs. 

I thought about how thankful I am for the life that I have and how easily I could be living a different life if I had been born in a different situation or taken a different path. How many people grow up in abusive homes or end up with abusive partners and have a hard time getting out or form an addiction to drugs or alcohol. 

I am just so thankful for what I have. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, now is the time to be thankful for what we have.

 

“Enjoy the little things. For one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." 

-Robert Brault

 

 

How Being Thankful Reduces Stress

Being thankful releases dopamine and serotonin, which are neurotransmitters responsible for making us feel happy.  Practicing thankfulness can help build these neurotransmitters.  Being thankful can create a sense of relaxation, improve the immune system and reduce blood pressure which helps with reducing stress.

Being thankful helps us with the following:

  • To see the good in life.
  • To be optimistic.
  • To accept the present situation.
  • To focus on solutions.
  • To control hormonal imbalances.
  • To have relationships and be thankful for people who are there for us.

 

 

7 Ways for You to Be Thankful

1. Send Out a Card or A Letter to Say Thank You

Thank you letter

The Holidays are approaching so now is a good time to bring back an old tradition by sending a card or a letter or both in the mail to say thank you to someone. If you aren’t into sending something in the mail anymore, you can always send an email instead. If you end up being too busy around the Holidays to send a thank you, than do it any time of the year. You don’t have to necessarily have a reason for sending a thank you. You just need to think of a person for whom you are thankful, whether it’s for something they have done or just for being in your life and thanking them for it. Studies show that sending a letter of thanks makes you happier than those who did not express their thanks. Studies have also shown expressive writing can improve your sense of well-being, so get writing!

 

2. Thankful Journal

Today I am grateful journal

Another way to keep track of the things you are thankful for is to keep a thankfulness journal. A journal is a great way to keep track, especially if you happen to be having a bad day. You can go to your journal and see what you have been thankful for. It may help you realize that maybe your day isn’t so bad. It is a good way to try and cheer yourself up. You don’t have to be a creative writer to keep a journal. You could just write a list of things you are thankful for, so you have it in one location.  Do what is comfortable for you.

 

3. Keep In Mind Things You Are Thankful For

Each day I wake I give thanks building

If you don’t like to write, you can take a few minutes each day to think of the things for which you are thankful. It could be in the morning when you are just getting up or when you are brushing your teeth, or it could be right before you go to bed. It will help you to keep that positive state of mind even if you haven’t physically done anything.

 

4. Thankful Jar

glass jar

Keep a clear jar somewhere that you pass by every day to make sure you see it. Write on a sticky note or small piece of paper what you are thankful for once a day and throw it in the jar. By keeping the jar visible, you will see all the things for which you are thankful pile up. If you have a bad day, take some of the notes out of the jar and read your notes. It may help brighten your day a little.

 

5. Make A Small List of Three Things You Are Thankful for Every Day

Thankful list

Whether you are into writing or not, try to make a list every day of 3 things for which you are thankful. They should be three different things every day. Remember, you can just make the list in your head if you don’t feel like writing it down.

 

6. Find A Person or Group to Share What You Are Thankful For

coffee with friends

Find a person or a group to share or talk to about what you are thankful for and vice versa. It can be a friend or a relative. You can set a schedule. Maybe you want to make it a get-together or just send a text as often as you’d like. You don’t have to limit yourself to just during Thanksgiving. This way you aren’t the only one reaping the benefits of thankfulness.

 

7. Thankful Meditation

Thankful meditation

If you have more time in your day, you can do a thankful meditation. Click on Thankful Meditation and it will link you to examples. You get twice the benefit since meditation alone is good for relieving stress!

 

Things To Think of That You Are Thankful For

Now that we have come up with some ways you can give thanks, you might have issues of finding things to be thankful for. You might be thinking it has to be significant like a family member or your health, but it doesn’t have to be a big thing. It can be something so simple that you think it is stupid, but nothing is stupid.  Here are some examples to help you think of those little insignificant things.

  • Cookies – The taste or smell of cookies
  • Sunsets or sunrises
  • Coffee – The taste or smell of coffee
  • Sun – The feel of it on your skin on a warm summer day
  • Flowers or the smell of flowers
  • Tacos - The taste or smell of tacos
  • Art – Museums, music, paintings, or concerts
  • Air – Breathing in or the feel of it on your skin when the wind is blowing
  • Love – Hugs or kisses

You should get the idea from the examples above and be able to keep going with your list. It is the simplest of things that we may not always think about.

 

How Being Thankful Can Give You Other Benefits

Here is a list of other ways being thankful can give you benefits besides just reducing stress.

  • It can help you to exercise more regularly and eat healthy
  • Fewer physical symptoms – less pain and reduces cardiac disease, inflammations, and neurodegeneration
  • It can help you to make progress toward your goals
  • Better sleep
  • Reduces anxiety and depression
  • It can help people with eating disorders
  • It can help people with substance abuse

 

 

Fun Thanksgiving Facts

Here are some fun Thanksgiving facts.

  • Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday on October 3, 1863. Lincoln’s proclamation may have never been issued if it had not been for Sarah Josepha Hale, the woman who wrote “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” She wrote directly to Lincoln to make Thanksgiving a national holiday on September 28, 1863.

Being Thankful

I wanted to point out that the ways to be thankful are just suggestions. Pick and choose what you want to try and what works for you. Everyone is unique and different. What works for one person doesn’t always work for another. Being thankful takes practice. I know it isn’t always easy to feel thankful, especially when you are going through hard times. I would like to note that studies have shown that the benefits from being thankful won’t show up right away. It takes time to see the benefits. One study showed that it took 4 weeks to see the benefits of thankfulness, and the benefits are even greater after 12 weeks.

 

What Are you Thankful for?

Now take some time, whether it is in your head, in a journal, or a little piece of paper and come up with at least one thing for which you are thankful. Try and do this every day. Remember, it doesn’t have to be anything big. It can be as simple as getting up in the morning or sipping that cup of coffee throughout the day or seeing the sun. Find that one thing to be thankful for and you’ll be better for it!

 

*HUGS*

Marie

Helping You Escape Daily Stress by Using Art to Relax

 

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