3 Simple Strategies for a more Grateful Life at Thanksgiving and throughout the year

Keep gratitude and optimism at the forefront of life

ROSEVILLE, Calif. – Flowing colors and shifting shapes of fall leaves are blown away by swift winds, and deep shadows make the sunlight bend to its will. Fall offers a sensory reminder that times are indeed a changing ‘with the holidays fast approaching.

This season of change offers an opportunity to reflect on the past while looking to the future. Due to life changes or circumstances, for many it can also be the most stressful and difficult season of life. We hope this article gives you a little encouragement and hope.

Wherever you stand on the path of life, gratitude can lift your spirits and move you forward even through the most trying of times. Gratitude does not erase one’s struggles, but it can help keep optimism at the forefront in life. In a precarious world, counting blessings and choosing gratitude can be some of the most valuable tools in your toolkit. In the same way that the focus of a camera helps determine the photo you take, shifting your focus in life can determine the world you see.

Here are just a few of the life-changing nuggets of wisdom we’ve picked up and successfully employed over the years from those far wiser than us.

Simple strategies for a more grateful life

1- Keep the negativity where it is

Adjust the news and social media

Big media, politics, and social networks regularly rely on keeping you hooked on fear, rage, and various forms of rage and excitement. Sky is Falling news cycles increase viewership, revenue, and political donations. Don’t buy it. Skip the obscene headlines, cut back on social media and avoid the news circus. Your life will become brighter and you will be happier for it!

Reconsider toxic relationships

Sometimes relationships falter and you need communication and work from both sides to bring them back together. However, not all relationships are reconcilable, nor are they meant to be. Continuing in toxic relationships is counterproductive. Moving or keeping your distance can be healing for everyone involved. Sometimes people are only a part of your life for one season.

2- Use the hard times

As a tool to make you better, don’t get bitter

We all strive to avoid difficulties, but we live through hard times and hard times will find you.
Nothing shapes us quite like hard times, failures, or unfaltering expectations. The ladders to true success, the keys to learning, and the paths to compassion and forgiveness are paved from life’s great challenges. When times are hard, take aim and point yourself in the direction of the positive lessons they teach. Use adversity and pain as a tool to make you better, not bitter.

Be responsible

No doubt about it. Life’s mistakes and occasions when you have caused pain to others can be challenging. It can also be difficult to be responsible for your own actions. It can also lead you to a place of more honest thinking, forgiveness, and integrity.

3- Enjoy your life

Celebrate with family and friends
Family is the place to celebrate life’s best and worst…together. Family is simply the people you choose to surround yourself with and experience life with. Surround yourself with people who lift you up, hold you accountable, and help you become a better version of yourself. Enjoy camaraderie and laughter throughout the journey.

Give some
A little time, a little kindness, and a smile. Whatever your giving language, when you give a little, it will be rewarded in very positive ways. It eases burdens and brightens lives for all involved. Consider a local charity such as Placer Food Bank.

Take different points of view
What a dull, boring life it would be if we all conformed to the same ideals and worldviews. The worlds of wisdom, knowledge, and creativity gained from alternative perspectives and cultures that revolve differently from our own are one of life’s greatest opportunities to learn, grow, and appreciate the world.

traditions
Ancient traditions are of vital importance. They remind us where we come from and connect us to a part of our history. New traditions help us branch out in new directions. Celebrate and be thankful for the past, present and future.

California, Golden State
Great weather, mountains, desert, ocean, urban and rural areas combined with endless cultural opportunities and experiences. For a number of reasons, California remains the best place in America to live…from our point of view.

Roseville and Placer County
In a place where residents care about their community, are engaged and have practical judgment, good things happen. A very nice place to live, do business and enjoy life.

As you face this holiday season facing the ups and downs of life, take time to look for the positive around you and in others. Not only can you improve your own perspective, but you may end up helping someone who is going through some unseen challenges in their own life.

I wish you a happy Thanksgiving and a future filled with peace and gratitude.
(Do you have a strategy or suggestion for a life filled with gratitude? We’d love to hear from you!)

gratitude

/ˈɡradəˌt(y)o͞od/
Noun
adjective gratitude. Willingness to show appreciation and return kindness.