Written by: Vickie Sullivan | November 23, 2023
A Thankful Heart
One tradition I practice during Thanksgiving week is to consider how gratitude shows up. How does being thankful appear in our everyday life?
Here’s an example involving a dear friend — one that changed my perspective. Edited for privacy, our conversation went something like this:
Me: Hold up. Your item is gone. Did you know it was missing?
My friend: What?! No, I didn’t know.
After looking around and retracing our steps, we couldn’t find the item. This valuable item could be anywhere.
Me: Oh my god, I’m so sorry this happened to you! This is a big loss.
My friend: I didn’t lose anything. I gained many years of happiness from having it, and now things have changed.
A big light bulb in my head flipped on. “Wow!” I thought.
Many of us, after we get over the shock and sadness of experiencing a loss, get to that peaceful place. (For me, it takes a while.) But to get there immediately after losing something valuable? That takes a perspective I don’t see often.
It takes practice to be grateful in our daily life. It takes emotional work to find gratitude after something good is gone. And it takes a thankful heart to celebrate the previous gains in the moment of sudden loss. May I have the emotional fortitude to get to that place.
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