Even though we had our turkey dinner last weekend, this is Thanksgiving, and it seems like the most appropriate time to contemplate gratitude. Gratitude changes everything. When I’m grateful, everything shifts. When I’m mired in negativity, focusing on what is working, or what I do have seems to bring me out of that dark place. I know it sounds corny, but it’s true. Last May, I went away on a weekend retreat, the focus of which was gratitude. Sometimes, it seems like an “out there” intangible concept, but when I came home, I was able to actually put it into practice, in my real life. The following is an excerpt from my journal, after that weekend:

I came home from my weekend to a pretty messy house (it wasn’t that sparking when I left, though, to be fair) So this morning, I was cleaning up the kitchen and while I was scrubbing the stove, I started on that chain of thoughts, “I’m so mad, how come he didn’t clean up, why do I have to do everything?” and then I stopped. And I thought about how grateful I was to have a home to clean, how grateful I was to have a husband and family to look after, and everything shifted. It was ok to be cleaning the stove, I wasn’t resentful or angry at my husband for not doing it. In that shift, I acknowledged, that he’s doing the best he can, and always goes out of his way to help me.

This is far from “deep” or enlightened, but I can tell you, it made a huge difference in the rest of my day. If I had kept on that train of negative thoughts, I’m pretty sure I would have let my husband know how irritated I was, and things would have just kept spiraling from there.

There are times, in our real, hectic, chaotic lives, when we can “shift”, focus on gratitude and everything changes. Eckart Tolle says that, “The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation, but your thoughts about it.” Catch yourself ruminating, and turn it around. What can you be grateful for in this moment? This my plan for the week – Turn it Around & Be Grateful.

But I digress. What am I thankful for on this wonderful holiday? I’m grateful for the opportunity to open the studio, to put it out there, and see what happens. I’m grateful for every single person who comes to the studio, who comes along my yoga path. I’m grateful for the unwavering love and support from my husband, my parents, my sister, my children and friends. I’m grateful to be here, in this lifetime, taking it all in. The list is never ending. I’m grateful for all of it.

What are you grateful for?

PS: I’m also grateful to live in Canada, a beautiful free country, where we all have the right to vote in free, democratic elections. The government is by the people, for the people, so please go out and vote tomorrow!