With Soul | 8 Little Things to be Grateful for
This Thursday will be the first Holiday we host as a family. Our table is set, our home has been deep cleaned, and I have our menu planned for the day. As someone who has always been a guest for Thanksgiving, this Thursday feels like a milestone in my life. A moment that we will look back on years from now and say “remember when we hosted our first thanksgiving in our first apartment that didn’t have enough seating?”
That’s the magic of the holidays: they serve as a reminder of time each year because they mark a particular season in life. They remind us of the importance of presence, goodness, and an inherent level of reflection. As we inch closer to a new year, we notice all that has happened since the last time.
It’s kismet how apropos this Holiday becoming ours is. Not only do I love to cook, and this meal is a feast, let me tell you, but the active practice of gratitude has completely changed my life. There is no better Holiday for me to host. My entire ethos is to encourage people to gather and celebrate small moments as a community, and here I am, gathering our family to kick off the Holidays together.
I also understand how stressful this time of year becomes for families. Not only does this time of year become expensive, but our time becomes stretched thin between gatherings, decorating, shopping, and just, life. It’s not always easy to find moments of gratitude in the midst of living life, so this week, I thought I share how easy finding little moments of appreciation can be.
Here are 8 things I’m Grateful for this Holiday Season:
Planting Seeds for Ideas: because you never know when ideas will bloom: keep pursuing your passion anyway.
The Unknown: because it gives us hope to what will unfold in our favor.
Instant Communication: because we have the ability to talk to those we miss, or need at any moment in time.
The perfect pair of jeans: because, in the words of my mom, when you look good, you feel good and when you feel good you do good.
Small Businesses: because it will make shopping this season joyful, personal, and impactful. (plus, you’ll save money shopping small, too)
The excitement when you get home greeting: because there’s no greater love than seeing your dogs (or cats, or kids, or significant other) barrel their way to you when you walk in the door
The simple things that keep you running: because I’m writing this from a laptop, under a cozy blanket, on my couch, with heat and cable television. It’s small, and easy to take for granted, but for some people, it’s not ascertainable.
Love: because there truly is no greater feeling than unconditional love.
The beautiful part of finding gratitude is that it can be that simple. You can be filled with appreciation for the air in your lungs, your salary, or the way your dog’s cold nose feels when they nudge you awake. The more you find gratitude, a word I consider synonymous with “happiness”, the more your life develops in your favor.
This Thanksgiving, it’s my hope that even before the roundtable where you give “Thanks”, you can find presence and gratitude. This year, in the midst of the chatter of a filled room, and the laughter (or occasional cries of the children), take a deep breath, and find the calm in being in a room with so much love.
As for me? This year, I’m grateful we can host our family in our “might be too small” apartment, and that a beautiful turkey is defrosting in our fridge. I’m grateful we had the ability to buy all the things you need to put on such a big dinner, and I’m even more grateful for my family- who continue to prove that their love is bigger than any love before.
As always, I’m grateful you’re here. Salt with Soul is the place I come to when I look for answers, and it’s a place I continue to find solace.
A small NaNoWriMo update: I had an unexpected health scare this month, and I fell behind. The fatigue made it difficult to write early, pile on editing, and my job, I slipped. However, I refuse to beat myself up, and I’m feeling better so I’m going to end the month strong, and continue to write well after November: this book deserves to be read.
I’m going to document the cooking festivities for Thursday, but before that, you can expect a little cooking guide for surviving Thursday.
I’ll see you Thanksgiving Eve, friends.