I love the month of November. We are so busy in October, and December is probably our most chaotic month of the year with all the festivities, that November is kind of the calm before the storm. Years ago, I adopted the fad of doing the 30 Days of Thankfulness, and it’s been a yearly thing ever since.
We get so hung up on day-to-day life that it is nice to take a step back, pause, and remember what God has blessed us with. What we are thankful for.
At the beginning of the month it is always a struggle to come up with things, without feeling shallow or generic, but by the end of the month I’m beaming with thankfulness and don’t want to stop. It’s an attitude change, a change in perspective, and helps me have a better and calmer attitude for the holiday season. It helps to remain focused on what is really important and to not get lost in the sea of “I wants! I need!” that surround the holidays and have perversed its existence.
So this month I challenge you to take time out of your day and find one thing each day that you are thankful for. One thing that you you can pause, reflect on, and hold onto for the day. These are hardest when we feel like the world around us is falling apart, but that is the time when it is most important.
Here is a list of 30 non-shallow things that you can be thankful for to get you started.
1. Good Health– Some people battle daily for their life, be grateful for the parts of your health that are good.
2. Good Friends– They are the shoulders we lean on, the hands that lift us up.
3. Freedom of Religion– We take this for granted far too often.
4. Your Parents– They wont be around forever, and they gave us life.
5. Weekends– Work would suck without the promise of a weekend.
6. Your situation– Wherever you are at in life right now, you are better off than someone.
7. Opportunity to Get an Education– We are blessed with all the opportunities that surround us.
8. Breathing Fresh Air– This isn’t something we think about often, but should be so grateful to have.
9. Laughter– It really is the best medicine.
10. Sunshine– It grows our food and warms our bodies.
11. Kindness of Strangers– It reminded us ourselves to be kind, and lets us focus on the positive around us.
12. Pain– It makes us stronger, and without it Joy would not be as well…joyful.
13. Freedom of Speech– What an amazing gift to not be shot for voicing our opinions.
14. Laundry– It means you have clothes to wash. Some people don’t have any.
15. Wisdom that Comes with Age– There aren’t many things we can look forward to about becoming older, but this is one of them.
16. Mountains– They offer beauty, and perspective.
17. Sunsets– It means we made it through another day, and that tomorrow is a brand new day with no mistakes in it.
18. Your Mind– Embrace your brilliance.
19. Diversity– What a boring world we would live in without it
20. Ability to Learn– Put it to good use and never stop learning
21. People Willing to Teach– Be grateful for those who are willing to teach you new things.
22. Freedom to Vote-This year it is particularly hard to remember just what a privlage this is.
23. Challenges-They force us to get out of our comfort zone and do something.
24. Courage– Where would be without the courage to face those challenges head on
25. Strength– You are stronger than you know, it allows us to remind ourselves what we are made of.
26. Your Mistakes– They will be the best teacher if you allow them.
27.Disappointments– They have made us stronger, and taught us how to overcome and be happy once again.
28. Heartbreaks– They have made us stronger, wiser, and more experienced.
29. Tears– They cleanse our eyes to see clearer the things we once felt so dim.
30. Your Senses– Smell, touch, see, hear, feel. These are all gifts and we could lose any one at any given time.
Have something to add? I’d love to hear it in the comments below.
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