As another Thanksgiving has come and gone, I’d like to share a quick perspective on how the concept of being thankful can have a positive impact.
I was driving back from a recent visit to my daughter’s, basking in the glow of priceless time with two of my three incredible grandchildren, realizing how blessed I was to be able to spend time with them, when I began to realize just how quickly the time in my life has flown by. It was prompted by two comments made by my wonderfully precocious grandson, who right in front of me asked his mother why my hair was white, as well as recently telling my daughter’s mother-in-law, “being a grandma means you’re getting ready to die.” Talk about perspective.
A long drive is a great time to reminisce. It seems just like yesterday that I was getting pummeled by the nuns in grammar school. Turns out I was hitting puberty, or better said puberty was hitting me, at exactly the wrong time. Not a good time to be in the presence of nuns. I remember crazy things, like when I was lucky to have been smart enough to sit in the first row in 6th grade, where the seats were organized by a student’s report card average and where my lowest-ranked classmates sat in the last row, inappropriately named “the Boneyard” by our black & white habited teacher.
These weren’t necessarily moments I wanted to relive on my drive, even though I’m thankful I can look back and smile. So I started running through the things that had the most impact, the ones I continue to savor.
One of the most profound was my first major league baseball game when I was 6. My Dad took me to the Polo Grounds in New York where my favorite team, the NY Giants, were playing the Milwaukee Braves. Talk about irony. I remember toward the end of the national anthem, my Dad’s incredible wit first became evident when he whispered to me that the song, the “Star Spangled Banner,” acknowledged the visiting team in the last line, in this case “… and the home of the Brave(s)”. I was stunned. He just smiled. (Think about it, you’ll get it.) I didn’t figure it out until the next game. I have savored that moment ever since, and, as you know I try to mirror my Dad’s wit, even though this usually inflicts great pain on my family and friends.
The point I’d like to make is that part of getting the most out of life is in our attitudes. Positive people handle stress better, are understandably happier and enjoy life more. A recent Wall Street Journal article indicates that “giving thanks is good for your health. A growing body of research suggests that maintaining an attitude of gratitude can improve psychological, emotional and physical well-being.”
The article goes on to say that if we find things to be grateful for, we have more energy, more optimism, more friends and connections and, right to the bottom line, more happiness.
How do we express gratitude when things bug us? (Insert “Frontier Airlines” here..) A good way may be to literally count our blessings – make a list of the things we’re grateful for, the things that maybe we take for granted, and do it every day. One way to approach it might be to turn negatives into positives. I was lamenting the fact that I couldn’t see my grandchildren more often since they were so far away, when in fact I should have been thankful for the opportunity to see them, healthy, happy, fun and loving, at all.
Remember, as the saying goes: “Its not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that make us happy.”
