How to Overcome Overwhelm with Gratitude

I’ve stood in wool socks and looked out the window at the sun piercing through trees with dropping leaves. And for a moment I could forget about the calls that needed made, the messages that needed answered, the cleaning that needed done, the writing and graphics that needed created, the groceries that needed ordered, and the holiday plans that needed penciled in. But then time would unfreeze and all the things would surface.

Have you felt this too? The overwhelm. The pressing on weary. The fog-like weight that won’t lift.

I like November, I really do. I like it for the way it invites me to be intentional about gratitude with a slew of 30-day gratitude challenges to choose from. I like it for slow-falling leaves that remind me to slow down, savor, and reflect. I like it for the anticipation of Thanksgiving and the holidays to follow.

But sometimes even good things can feel like too much, and I wonder if this year especially our need to overcome overwhelm has increased.

The world shut down, then incrementally opened, and for some of us it opened and shut multiple times over. And we’ve tried hard to keep up, to resume the lives we’ve put on hold, to keep leaning into mission nevertheless. But everything feels somehow different. We are different. We are overwhelmed.

And in the middle of all the things we must keep up, focusing on gratitude for a full month feels like one more thing that’s just become too much.

But maybe gratitude is not the obstacle to margin. Not the opposition to a rest-filled, life-overflowing, mission-minded month. Not the thing that’s too much—but the thing we can’t get enough of. The answer. The antidote.

Perhaps it’s what we need more than we realize.

And here’s why it helps us overcome overwhelm:

Gratitude gives more than it takes.

Thanks can be offered in a breath. A single word. A press of the camera button.

It doesn’t have to be over-thought or reel-perfect, elegant or extraordinary.

It doesn’t have to be reshared, commented on, or liked.

It doesn’t even have to be seen or heard by anyone else.

It can be small.

But when we whisper it into silence, onto a blank page, or in an exhale, our brief pause reorients us.

It awakens something within us that helps us to notice more—more gifts, as Ann Voskamp would say.

It shifts the direction of our day.

It makes space to think beyond ourselves. To treasure what we’re apt to take for granted. To show up for the little moments of our actual, everyday lives.

It lifts our spirits. Redirects our gaze. Opens our hearts.

It changes us—because gratitude grows.

One small thanks plants a seed. Many small thanks makes soft the ground of our hearts, and seeds take root in fertile ground.

Perhaps it’s not giving thanks that depletes us.

Perhaps we have little to give because the ground we’re trying to grow good seeds in is baked hard.

Perhaps if we gave gratitude a try we wouldn’t so often feel behind and on empty, edgy and discontent.

So, my friend, if you’re entering November already overwhelmed, I invite you to try something counter-intuitive. Intentionally practice gratitude. In little ways. Even though it sounds like its one too many things on your plate.

I’ll give you some ideas for keeping it simple and small. Try one, or try them all to see what fits you best. And if you have more ideas for keeping gratitude effortless so we can reap its harvest, please do share in the comments!

12 ways to overcome overwhelm with gratitude

1—Give thanks in an exhale. As you breath in, say (aloud or silently) “Thank You for” and as you breathe out, say one thing you are grateful for.

2—Start a “Grateful For” list. Add just one thing each day. Don’t overthink it. Simply write down that thing that comes to mind first.

3—Snap a quick photo of something you are thankful for today. Don’t get hung up on whether it’s the perfect angle or you’ve chosen the most meaningful thing. Try to keep it going for the rest of the month.

4—Have each member of the family share one thing they are thankful during dinner. It’s never too late to start a new tradition!

5—Include a thank-you in your bedtime prayer as you tuck in a child.

6—Write “Today I’m grateful for” on a mirror or somewhere else you will see often to remind you throughout the day to give thanks for the little things.

7—Clap for the “wow God!” moments—an idea I learned from the lovely Mariel Davenport.

8—Pick a color for the day. Throughout your day, look for things of your chosen color you are thankful for.

9—If you catch yourself feeling especially impatient—maybe as you wait for coffee to drip, a line to move faster, or a kid to finish tying a shoe—choose instead to say thank you for the pause.

10—Memorize a verse on gratitude so you can say it often. Grab a list of ones to choose from in the FOR YOU library here on The Uncommon Normal.

11—Browse the Begin Within: A Gratitude Series stories and read one that piques your interest. Take it to the next level by committing the read the weekly story so you can glean from the wisdom of others who practice gratitude on the regular.

12—Join the Uncommon Normal gratitude challenge. It can be done with photos or words and be kept private on shared on your socials. And you can jump in and join us any time.

In case you missed the post about the challenge, I wanted to continue The Uncommon Normal tradition of a November gratitude challenge this year but give space for you to do as many or as few days as you’d like. I wanted it to feel light, because even the little things can be life-giving. I wanted it to unleash your imagination, because creativity can be healing. And I want it to be easy to engage in gratitude, because this giving of thanks changes us.

I’m calling it all the little somethings.

If you’d like to join in, get all the details here.

No matter how you choose to engage with gratitude this month, I truly want you to experience for yourself how gratitude gives more than it takes.

Here’s a prayer to take with you today:

When my heart is overwhelmed, I choose to look to You. Here’s my small thank you. I trust You to grow my gratitude. Amen.

Cultivate year-round, ripple effect gratitude!

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.

In case you missed it!

There are now gratitude-themed phone wallpapers and a printable of my favorite Psalms about gratitude (in The Passion Translation) in the FOR YOU library. Enjoy!