In a 2011 New York Times article, author John Tierney called Thanksgiving the most psychologically correct holiday. Not politically correct, but psychologically correct. His rationale is clearly related to gratitude.
Gratitude is a pillar of personal resilience in that it helps us appreciate all we have to be grateful for in our lives. No doubt, last Thursday we all went around the Thanksgiving dinner table speaking about what it was we are grateful for in our lives. Hopefully nobody was thinking, “Thank God I don’t have to do that for another year!”
Building a gratitude practice is an excellent way to sustain a perspective about what is important in our lives. In my new book, The Resilience Advantage coming out in February, 2016, I talk about gratitude and will be providing readers with a link to download a 28 day Gratitude Journal that has helped me to become more aware of the good things in my life. The simple exercise of acknowledging good stuff helps keep the negative energy out and the blessings in.
This was tested this past weekend as Sheila and I went out shopping and upon returning at the end of the day, discovered that her wallet had been stolen from her purse. Not sure when, not sure how. Frustrating and aggravating but after a few phone calls to banks and credit card companies she went out and bought a new one and all was good. I was reminded of a quote that my grandmother use to say. “If it’s a problem that can be solved with money, then it is not a problem.”
Keeping that mantra in my mind helps me focus on building gratitude of what is important and saves me the energy of ruminating about what is not important.
© Richard Citrin, All rights reserved, 2015
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