For this article, I wanted to discuss the ways that I plan to express gratitude, making it a daily practice, breaking traditions to better fit who you celebrate the holidays with, and ways to spend time with those you care about. Thanksgiving has always been a bit of a weird holiday for my family. This year, we are switching up the traditions.
On Gratitude:
I try to express gratitude throughout the year and not just make it a November or Thanksgiving thing. Expressing gratitude is one of the best ways to take a moment and appreciate what you have. My main ways of doing this is through journaling and taking a moment to reflect on what I’m grateful for at least once a day. By doing this, I appreciate what I have and learn what means the most to me. For Thanksgiving time this year, I plan to do my normal gratitude practices and just take extra moments to enjoy the little things. Gratitude shouldn’t be a show. You can express that you are grateful for someone or something, but it should be a genuine action.
Breaking Thanksgiving Traditions:
As previously mentioned, Thanksgiving is a bit of a weird holiday for my family. We normally either aren’t around or going from relative to relative and having 5+ meals that day. This year will be a bit different. We decided to meet up with our family in a different state and not have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. In the past, it has ended up being a lot of work with too many leftovers (aka everyone took home a week’s worth of food) and an insane amount of dishes by the end of the night. This year, we’re getting Brazilian food instead.
Spending Time with Loved Ones:
Due to my family’s current situation and everyone’s schedules, it is extra important to spend time with loved ones right now. Some of the ways that we are planning to spend time together next week is to go ice skating, probably enjoying a lot of coffee and hot chocolate (we’re going to be in a colder area), and disconnecting from electronics to enjoy time together.
Thank you for reading, and enjoy the holidays!