Thanksgiving is inspiring, isn\u2019t it? There\u2019s something about this particular holiday that causes us to reflect on what\u2019s really important and brings a fresh perspective into our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as we all know, that warm and fuzzy feeling doesn\u2019t last forever.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Too often, we treat gratitude as a holiday ornament that we pull from the attic when we\u2019re ready to decorate. After the festivities are over, we pack it away and get back to the daily grind of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But when we do this, we miss out on all the amazing benefits of gratefulness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arrogance and ungratefulness go hand and hand. But the opposite is also true<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n To help us maintain a spirit of appreciation all year long, I\u2019ve created a list of some of the unbeatable benefits<\/strong> of gratitude. Here are the top 10 reasons I\u2019m thankful for thankfulness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone has a need and desire to be appreciated<\/strong>\u2014spouses, children, parents, friends, coworkers, even the strangers we meet in passing. Oprah once said, “The common denominator that I’ve found in every single interview is that we all want to be validated. We want to be understood.\u201d So when we express gratitude for people, we not only meet their needs and lift their spirits, but we make them feel validated. <\/strong>And that improves the quality of our relationships with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Media messages are constantly telling us to buy more, do more, look like this, or act like that. With so much distraction, it can be difficult to appreciate what you have right now. But by choosing to be thankful, you can ignore these messages and embrace contentment.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n You know how happy we feel around Thanksgiving? We can continue to feel that way long after the turkey and dressing are gone. How? All we have to do is count our blessings and turn our hearts and thoughts toward gratitude.<\/strong> The warm and fuzzy feelings will follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even though the holidays represent a stressful time for many of us, reflecting on what we\u2019re thankful for actually reduces stress. “Gratitude research is beginning to suggest that feelings of thankfulness have tremendous positive value in helping people cope with daily problems, especially stress,” says University of California Davis psychology professor Robert Emmons. He goes on to explain that gratitude and optimism can even boost our immune system. When we stop focusing on what we don\u2019t have, and begin focusing on everything we do have, our shoulders relax and we invite peace, patience, and health into our lives.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Arrogance and ungratefulness go hand and hand. But the opposite is also true. When we choose to be thankful for the big and small blessings in our lives, we foster a heart of humility and a spirit of graciousness.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Just as fear and worry are contagious, so is the spread of gratitude. When we\u2019re inspired by others\u2019 gratefulness, it prompts our own grateful thoughts and actions as well. We can be the catalysts that spread gratitude in our homes, offices and communities.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When we\u2019re thankful, the natural byproduct is that we become more positive people. There are endless daily annoyances that can bring us down and steal our joy. But when we\u2019re intentionally thankful, it naturally redirects our thoughts to see the good in other people and in our everyday lives.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s tough to be givers when our eyes are always on our own needs. When we are thankful for what we have, we can hold our blessings with an open hand and freely give to others. And when we realize how abundantly we are blessed, we can confidently and joyfully become a blessing to others.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s fair to say no one wants to be around an ungrateful, entitled individual. Yet we all enjoy spending time with grateful, down-to-earth folks. When you are grateful, people see you in a positive light and they naturally like you and want to be around you.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bible is full of passages on gratitude and thankfulness. It\u2019s used in commands, parables, and prayers. This quality is important to God! So when we actively practice gratefulness, we become more of who God created us to be.<\/strong> Plus, we also get to connect with Him through our thankful thoughts and prayers. Unlike talent, gratitude is something that\u2019s freely available to all of us and completely within our control.<\/strong> It\u2019s not a special \u201cgifting\u201d that some people have and others don\u2019t. It\u2019s not a feeling that floats through the air at the end of each November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a choice.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Every day we get to choose to be thankful and to experience the side benefits of gratefulness all year long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a9 Lampo Licensing, LLC. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thanksgiving is inspiring, isn\u2019t it? There\u2019s something about this particular holiday that causes us to reflect on what\u2019s really important and brings a fresh perspective… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1782,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,56,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","category-money","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1810"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1811,"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810\/revisions\/1811"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}1. Thankfulness improves relationships.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. Thankfulness creates contentment.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Thankfulness feels good.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. Thankfulness keeps us healthy.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Thankfulness cultivates humility.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
6. Thankfulness is contagious.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
7. Thankfulness produces positivity.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
8. Thankfulness promotes generosity.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
9. Thankfulness increases likability.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
10. Thankfulness displays God\u2019s character.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n