The holiday of Thanksgiving is a day set aside for us to consider our many blessings (and generally eat too much!). Incorporating the habit of thankfulness, or gratefulness is always good practice and proven to be good for our mental health. Gratefulness is focusing on the positive in our life and is the exact opposite of the feeling of depression which is focusing what is wrong in our life or the things we cannot control. Cultivating the discipline of thankfulness will lead to an improved outlook and a lifted mood. Thankfulness is a discipline and one that must be exercised like any other discipline in life. Develop the habit of starting each day with thanksgiving and your depression will start to be replaced by joy. Each day is a gift and as we waken in the morning we can start by giving thanks for having another day of life. End your day the same way; looking for what went right in the day and as these become habits, you will begin to notice improvement in your outlook. Try keeping a prayer journal to record not only your requests, but also your offerings of thanksgiving. “Enter His gates with thanksgiving”, (PS 100:4)
