Boy, the anxiety & overwhelm just keeps ramping up, doesn't it?

With the second wave of the pandemic upon us, lots of people unemployed and underemployed, racial violence still happening, and the U.S. on fire in so many ways, it can be easy to spend much of our days feeling anxious, enraged, overwhelmed, terrified and in despair - this on top of the daily stress we all experience.

But, as many Canadians celebrated Thanksgiving recently, we got a much-needed opportunity to turn within and look for the places in our lives that feel rich with meaning, goodness, beauty and love.

At celebrations that didn't look anything like what we're used to or what we'd hoped for, we paused to notice and appreciate the many blessings in our lives... and to remember that, in this moment, all is well.

Gratitude is needed in this world now, more than ever.

Practicing gratitude can shift our energy in powerful ways. That's because Gratitude is the antidote to Anxiety. The latter one cannot exist where the former one is.

Put another way: Gratitude is like a flashlight, and where it shines, the shadows of Anxiety dissipate.

That means that the more time you spend each day in the present moment, noticing what you're grateful for, the less time you will put your attention on the future, worrying about outcomes you can't control or predict... And you'll be calmer, more grounded in what matters most, and feeling more in control of your life.

Here are a few simple ways to introduce more Gratitude into your daily life:

Keep a Gratitude journal. At the beginning or end of the day, take a few minutes to capture a minimum of 3 things you're grateful for in that moment.
Put periodic reminders in your phone. When you get the notification, stop and put your attention on what's going well. (And there's an app for that too! Look up "gratitude apps" to find one that's right for you)
Make a suppertime ritual. Have each family member share something they're grateful for (why only save this ritual for Thanksgiving?)

What we pay attention to, expands. What we feed, grows.

And I know that you, with your big heart, want to co-create this new world from a place of abundance, hope and love.