Thankful in the midst of 2020

It’s coming. And it will likely be served with a measure of disappointment this year. While many people just want to push the fast forward button and get to 2021, perhaps what we really need is to embrace this little holiday nestled in between Halloween and Christmas.

I’m going to be real with you. This year has been tough so far and it is not pulling any of its punches. If you’re like me, you are probably looking at the upcoming holiday season and feeling a wide mix of emotions: anticipation, frustration, tempered excitement and maybe, already, a sense of disappointment. What’s next? What will we miss out on? What traditions will face a forced hiatus? And how do we enjoy the holiday season with all of this swirling around inside of us? If you can relate to this at all, let me encourage you to start with gratitude.

Yes, we have lost a lot this year. Many of us are in some state of grief. You may be grieving for a family member lost to illness or friends you have not seen in ages due to travel restrictions. Or, you may be grieving the comfortable routines your life has lost. But many of us still have so much. Clouded by the fog of 2020, we need to rub our eyes and take a look at what we do have and offer thanks as we recognize our blessings. And since we may not feel particularly grateful right now, here are three practical ways that you can exercise your gratitude muscles, even when you just don’t feel like it.

Practice daily

So that expression I used above, “exercise gratitude,” it exists because it is work to be thankful. To become truly grateful, you must change your mindset and practice intentional gratitude. The good news is that a little practice every day can go a long way.

Have you had a meal with a two year old? They don’t need practice to be good at complaining. No one has to teach us how to be negative, we are surrounded with it. Breaking through the weight of a complaining attitude requires daily exercise. We must intentionally considering what we have and offer thanks.

The offering can vary from day to day. You may use words, or song, or prayers. Perhaps you want to build out a gratitude bullet list like the one in the Thanksgiving 2020 Planner. Regardless, take time to flex those thankfulness muscles each day.

Be specific

Vague, generic gratitude is weak. It is not bad to offer thanks for something vague like “loving parents,” in fact that is a very good thing to be grateful for. But take that and break it down. Flex those muscles a little more.

Often the feeling of gratitude is the sum of many small parts, each of which provides its own opportunity for offering thanks. What makes your parent loving? How do you know? Why does it bless you that they are loving, again be specific. Consider the many parts that contribute to the broader items you are grateful for and honor those as well.

This reflective practice of being specific will help shape how you view challenging situations. And it will support your daily practice.

Start small

When looking over the landscape of a year like 2020, it can be really hard to identify things for which we can be grateful. So, instead of the 30,000 foot view start on the ground. Don’t look at the overwhelming big picture, rather begin with small things from the day. Look around you for the blessings. Quiet your mind, put your devices aside, and physically look for things for which you can offer thanks.

If you are struggling to see them, start with your five senses. Close your eyes and consider what you hear and smell. Are you grateful for the smell of coffee brewing? The sound of music when you’re feeling blue? Extend this to your other senses. What about the taste of chocolate? Perhaps you are grateful for the feel of hug from a loved one? The colors of the leaves changing on the trees?

Your daily practice can also start small. Perhaps begin with 5 minutes of reflection and thanksgiving over a cup of tea in the morning. Or take a 10 minute walk where you focus on being grateful. Or, work your practice of thanksgiving into a normal daily routines like taking a shower or washing the dishes.

Use these three strategies together to help build your daily practice of gratitude. As a guest, or as the host, the attitude you bring to Thanksgiving day will be contagious, and hopefully this year that’s the only thing that is! Do you want to spend the holiday complaining about how garbage this year has been? That will certainly put a damper on the holiday.

As you head into the Thanksgiving season, your ability to be mindful and prepare intentionally for gathering with people will directly impact the celebratory tone in your home. While preparing for the meal is certainly necessary, preparing your mindset should be the first priority. Gathering people to celebrate the year’s blessings – and giving back to those in need – should be the focus of Thanksgiving.

My encouragement to you is to take time to be thankful daily. Especially right now and especially when you don’t feel like it. It’s ok to start small but be specific. Work on flexing those gratitude muscles over the next few weeks. Daily practice will build the strength you need for Thanksgiving Day. With all we’ve lost this year, I encourage you to make sure that you don’t let “thanks” and “giving” go by the wayside.

Need a resource to help you plan for both your holiday mindset and the celebration? Get your copy of The Wandering Hearth Thanksgiving 2020 Planner.

This post originally appears here on The Wandering Heath.

Meet Gwendolyn Smith

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Begin Within is a series to inspire a year-round lifestyle of gratitude that will impact not only your own life, but the lives of your neighbors as well. Gratitude is a theme we talk about often around here because it ties so closely into other missional living rhythms. Practicing gratitude reminds to keep our hearts soft and expectant and our eyes open. Therefore, the more we embrace gratitude, the easier it becomes to truly see our neighbors and where we can join what God is already doing in our neighborhoods.

My vision for this gratitude series is to help others embrace a year-round lifestyle of gratitude that will impact not only their own life, but the lives of their neighbors as well.

If you would like to contribute to Begin Within, you can find the submission guidelines here.

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If you would like to cultivate rhythms in addition to gratitude that will empower you live on mission in your neighborhood, check out Cultivating a Missional Life: A 30-Day Devotional to Gently Help You Open Your Heart, Home, and Life to Your Neighbors. This small book will help you make a big impact in your neighborhood as you learn to let missional living flow from the inside out. Get the 30-day missional living challenge free when you purchase the book.