Tis the season to gather together with family and friends to give thanks! I love this time of year where people’s focus is on being grateful… for who is in (or out) of their life, the many blessings, the daily opportunities to learn and grow and for deep, sincere love. But have you ever wondered why the focus is always on the act of practicing thankfulness instead of ALSO on the act of receiving thankfulness? Aren’t they both as equally important as the other?
When you purposefully set your day up with a grateful heart your perspective shifts… to focus on what’s positive in your life. Despite the many challenges each day brings, practicing being thankful allows you to filter life thru the lenses of what is going well or what is positive instead of what is wrong or what is chaotic. It empowers you to forge ahead and BE… despite what is going on around you. On the flip side, what if you also consciously practiced accepting other people’s thankfulness towards you? When you receive a compliment or someone in your life expresses gratitude towards you or for something you did, how well do you stop and allow that act of gratitude to sink in? I mean… really sink in? What would really transpire in you if you were to truly accept it when someone else, who’s taken the time to verbalize it, appreciates you? When you take the extra second or two to embrace someone else’s gratefulness of you, it enables you to be a more authentic and genuine person because you are open and vulnerable. This, therefore, allows for others to see your humanness and for relationships to deepen. A balanced person is savvy at purposefully being grateful daily while also purposefully embracing when others want to express that same gratefulness towards you… It’s an act of love to be mindful of both sides to gratefulness. Make this season one where you wake up each day ready to be thankful while also being ready to receive when others want to share that same gratefulness towards you! Your relationships will thank you.