Happy Thanksgiving everyone! It is hard to believe that another Thanksgiving is upon us and another year will soon be over.
In honor of Thanksgiving, I wanted to create a post that reflects the spirit of the holiday. One thing that has helped me deal with being chronically ill is being able to look at the bright side of the situation and find things that I am still thankful for, even when life looks not so great sometimes.
I want to throw out a challenge to everyone this Thanksgiving. See below to read the message I posted on my BIL’s cancer blog:
Thanksgiving is a great holiday that reminds us that we need to give thanks regardless of our life’s situations. When things are not going well in life it is easy to focus on the negative and we often forget that there are still things in our life to be thankful and grateful for.
What I have found to always help is to keep a gratitude journal. Ever since I became ill 17 years ago, I started a gratitude journal to record the things that I am grateful for. Even though I might wake up and not be able to do anything other than wash my hair, I record that I am grateful that I was able to do that small task. It helps through the difficult times and it makes you realize that even though things may be bad, there are still positive spins you can put on each situation. Instead of becoming a victim of “poor me”, become a victor and learn from your experiences, grow and help others. Instead of complaining, put on a smile. It helps!
So my challenge to everyone this Thanksgiving is to start your own gratitude journal. Be thankful for every little thing you have and for every person in your life.
I am always thankful for my readers here because without you Fighting Fatigue would not exist! Thanks so much for all of your support over the past almost 2 years!
How to Cope with Pain is now offering a monthly Pain-Blog Carnival during the last week of every month, to include each month’s best posts. November’s carnival is now posted. New bloggers are always welcome to contribute.
The post above was included as part of the monthly blog carnival. You can view all the great entries at the link below:
Thank you for this post. I too have found solace in keeping a journal. It has been my best friend and listening ear at times when I had no one to confide in. Having a special ‘grattitude journal’ is something I’ve not yet done, but I think that today I will treat myself to the purchase of a brand new paper journal just for this purpose! 🙂
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
MUAH!
xoxox
shoshi
I think when you can find the gratitude in adversity you are really linking to something bigger, more universal that the self, who is mired in the moment (and the moment can get pretty awful).
I’d like to share my Thanksgiving gratitude post from my blog —
http://insicknessinhealth.blogspot.com/2007/11/pet-therapy-or-sometimes-human-is-just.html
And thank you for your blog – I continue to learn from you.
Shoshana, Thanks for stopping by! Let me know how your journaling goes!
Barbara, How very true your comment is. I am glad you are enjoying reading here! Take care!
I really appreciate this post. I just started keeping a migraine diary and it reads so negative about all the pain I’m in. I think I’m going to add a gratitude note to each day as well, just to remind me to be thankful, too.
You inspired me. I already journal and I do write what I’m thankful for: however, I would like to start keeping a gratitude journal.
Deb