Thanksgiving is upon us once again. It is a time for us to take a step back, to slow down and to reflect on all of the many blessings in our lives.

Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for all of the good and yes even for the bad. I have been thinking about Thanksgiving for the past few weeks. I am always excited to spend time with the people I care about most and to try to not sweat the small stuff. That part is difficult for me.

This year, as I always am at this time, I am thinking about all that I am grateful for. Not long ago I wrote a post called 10 Reasons I Got Out of Bed This Morning. That post was really about being grateful and I thought I would continue it with this one.

Here are 5 Reasons Why I Am Grateful:

• I am married to the woman of my dreams. When I was just 12 years old I wrote down that I wanted to “marry the woman of my dreams” on my Dream List. I am so grateful that this dream came true. It took me some time to figure out that I couldn’t force it to happen. This was one thing that shouldn’t be a goal. But once I found Ashley I didn’t let her go. She is the best part of my life. I don’t tell her how lucky I am enough or how grateful I am for her enough.
• I have a great relationship with my parents and my in-laws. My wife and I consider our parents to be our best friends. We love all the time we spend with them. I am grateful for these relationships, but I am also grateful for all that my parents have done for me and for my siblings. They have sacrificed a lot. They are the best leaders I know. I have learned so much from them. I challenge you to think about all that your parents have done for you. Call them right now and tell them thank you. Tell them you love them. If they are no longer living why not write them a letter? Never miss an opportunity to thank your parents. We should of course honor our parents.
• I love what I do. I wrote a whole post about this so I don’t have to go into much detail, but life is so much better when you love what you do. It is amazing when you know your purpose. I am grateful that I figured it out at an early age and that I have been able to continue to do what I love.
• I am grateful for perspective. Some days are difficult. There are times when I don’t love parts of what I do and other times when obstacles get in the way of my goals. One thing I try to always remember is just how lucky I am in my life. So many people are dealing with so much pain and suffering. A bad day for me would be a great day for many other people. Most of my life is awesome. Only a small part is bad. I choose to focus on the awesome and to be grateful for my blessings.
• I am grateful for all of the people in my life who I am not close with anymore. I have screwed up some of my relationships. I take responsibility for that. There are a lot of people who I wish I still had good relationships with. I am grateful for all of these people. Things have changed over the years. I have changed. They have changed. But one thing that has never changed is how much I care. I should have been better at showing this. I should have been better at maintaining the relationships. But I am grateful that all of these people are still around and that we still have time to fix things. It is never too late to work to improve a relationship.

Thanksgiving is a time of giving thanks. It is a time to be grateful and to remind people how much you care. But this should not just happen on Thanksgiving. We should be grateful every day. We should show gratitude every day. Just like every day should be Valentine’s Day with the ones you love, it should also be Thanksgiving.

So give thanks this year for all of the many blessings in your life, but work to develop a habit of gratitude. This will change your life and it will change your relationships.

I recently watched a great YouTube video (below) about students that wrote in a gratitude journal every class. I thought this was a great idea so i decided to start my own gratitude journal. What I wrote above is some of what I wrote in my journal. I will continue to write in it as often as possible.

What would you write in your gratitude journal? What are you most grateful for? What will you do to show gratitude this Thanksgiving and every single day after?

Happy Thanksgiving!