What are you thankful for in your life?

As Thanksgiving is now upon us, it’s naturally a time to ponder the question, “What are you thankful for in your life?” The answers to that question can be as varied as life itself. Sometimes the answer comes from an unexpected difficult experience, instead of from a pleasant experience.

Recently, we were reminded of that dynamic after hearing from a friend of ours in Florida about his life-threatening experience. When Hurricane Ian hit, he and his wife were in their sixth-floor condo on Barefoot Beach in Bonita Springs. They lost power. He could see that lights were still on in the nearby clubhouse. He went down the stairs to the garage to check if it would be possible for he and his wife to get to the clubhouse. When he ventured a short way outside, he saw that it would be too dangerous. He also realized that the garage was filling up with water and if he stayed there, he would drown. When he tried to open the door to go back upstairs, it had locked behind him. He didn’t have a key.

Hurricane winds and surging water from the Gulf and surrounding bays carried him outside. For seven hours he was buffeted around and injured by objects hurling through the air and water. He finally reached safety through a miraculous “Godincidence”. He was cut and bruised over all his body but able to battle his way back to his building. A neighbor showed up with a key at that exact time to help him get back to his condo. Needless to say, he’s thankful to have survived and to celebrate Thanksgiving with his wife this year.

Perhaps you have also experienced some unexpected negative events in your life where you found yourself being thankful for just being able to survive it. I (Lynn) fell and broke my right arm and left knee last December. That was an unexpected ordeal for me. Yet, I’m so thankful for my caring husband, and wonderful physical therapists helping with my recovery. I nearly cried when I could finally raise my arm to put earrings in both ears. This might seem like a simple task, but I was only able to do it recently. Before the accident, I took that simple task for granted.

We all have many things in our life that we take for granted. That’s why one of our favorite action exercises for people is the Three Blessings Exercise. As a trainer for

Martin Seligman, Ph.D. and Ben Dean, Ph.D. we found this exercise to be very helpful. It encourages looking for three blessings each day and then writing them down. Sharing them with family or a friend, reinforces effectiveness. Research shows that reviewing them before bed, contributes to having pleasant dreams. Robert Brault said, “Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”

When looking for blessings every day, people become more positive. We learned to be thankful for things such as being able to see, to walk, to think, to talk. And many more things, like being thankful for God’s beautiful nature. No more taking things for granted!

Sometimes you can’t take for granted that relationships will go smoothly at holiday gatherings. Some families have wonderful relationships and many happy memories. But the unexpected riff can happen. If you have some Thanksgiving horror stories, you aren’t alone. You may avoid drama if you can have compassion when someone is displaying unfriendly or even hostile behavior. Know that you can only control you, and you can’t control them. Remember to focus on what is good about the holiday.  As Eckhart Tolle said, “Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”

If you enjoy the holiday season, take some pictures, and maybe even write down something about the good times together. We never know what the future will bring, but we have the day and the season to enjoy. Be thankful you can make wonderful memories to look back on. Cicero said, “A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues.”

What about you? What are you thankful for? We hope that you’ll take time to reflect on all the things for which you can be thankful. As we look for them, we train our brains to recognize the blessings that we have each day and that contributes to an even more positive outlook. We always say, be thankful for each day – because each day is a gift!

And we want you to know that we are thankful for you!

Chanhassen MN residents, Doug and Lynn Nodland are success coaches and owners of The Balance Center in Excelsior. Contact them at WeCare@SharingLifesLessons.com

© Doug and Lynn Nodland 2022 Articles and videos may be shared in their entirety with attribution.