Ready or not, we are beginning Thanksgiving week — a time traditionally set aside to express our gratitude by gathering for feasts and fellowship with family and friends. But as we know, this year feasts and fellowship are being discouraged to guard against the spread of coronavirus...such crazy times. 

By every measure, 2020 has been a challenging year for all of us as we figure out how to navigate life during this seemingly never ending COVID-19 pandemic. Many small businesses, especially restaurants, have already gone out of business or are on the verge of collapse. Millions of people are unemployed and desperately short of cash. Many schools are shuttered and providing only online learning. Sporting events have been canceled, senior citizens are staying at home almost all the time, or a not allowed to see family while in a long term care facilities, and most family vacations remain a distant fantasy.  Looking forward to the holiday trip home to see Grandma and Grandpa? Now we are told to think twice before doing so. Let’s not even mention politics or the election...isn’t everything else I listed stressful enough?

Given this disruption to our lives, it is no surprise that many people find it more natural to focus on the negatives instead of positives. So what’s there to be thankful for now you might ask? Woe is seemingly everywhere these days, right? Only a fool or delusional optimist would give thanks, right? Wrong.

Like weeds in a garden, the problems created by the pandemic are unavoidable and seem to interfere with everything in our lives. But gratitude is one of the tools we should use in this difficult time. When we give thanks for everyday things, we make them visible again. 

A year that, with all its negativity, loss and hardship globally and personally, has revealed a surprising silver lining for me. Namely, the opportunity to slow down in a world that never stops going. (I know I sound like a hypocrite here as I’m starting my own business but hear me out.)  Perhaps one positive takeaway from an otherwise painfully tumultuous year is this: an opportunity to become intimate with our inner self.

This year forced me to slow down when I didn’t want to. I have so much gratitude for that “hard stop” to my usual routine as it gave me the courage to FINALLY embark on my dream of taking care of patients my way. My hard stop made me see my routine from afar and I realized that though I’m grateful to take care of my patients, something had to change. Ironically, I realized that I needed and wanted to slow things down. Being forced to stop drove my passion for wanting to continue taking care of patients but now taking the time to focus more on the quality of care I’m providing, versus the quantity of the people I took care of. So here I am, embracing this strange C-19 forced down time and starting a brand new small business, focused on a slower pace.

If nothing else, I hope that most of you were able to take the same forced down time to do some “inventory” and gain insight about what you might consider to be mundane in your life.  When we’re able to give thanks for everyday things, we train our minds to put our misfortunes and the negative impact of COVID-19 into proper focus and to instead focus on all the blessings in our life.

Thanksgiving is my favorite Holiday because to me, it is about more than a big meal, football and Black Friday deals, it’s right there in its name – “Thanks”giving. From its inception, it was seen as a time to count our blessings. This Thanksgiving, more than any other in recent memory, we should all make a conscious effort to reflect on the positive people and circumstances in our lives. Doing so sustains us emotionally and helps provide the fortitude to continue to face challenges with passion and confidence and not with a sense of imminent defeat.

Holiday Blessings to you all. May you be inspired to cultivate an “attitude of gratitude.”