Here in the US, Thanksgiving is just days away. We Americans have celebrated it on the third Thursday in November ever since it was set as the national day of Thanksgiving by President Lincoln in 1863. 

While this is our day of thanks, we are far from alone in the tradition—a dozen countries and even more towns and territories hold communal days of Thanksgiving. From the US to Australia to China, India, Ghana, and more, human beings have a long history of coming together to express gratitude and celebrate the gifts of life. 

Let’s explore gratitude—its benefits to our healing and happiness, what we can do to experience more of it on this sometimes-stressful holiday (and beyond), and the hidden role of forgiveness in cultivating thankfulness. Plus find:

• 6 of the best and most popular sessions from the Trauma Recovery Summit 🎁

• A guided forgiveness meditation from renowned meditation teacher Jack Kornfield 🧘

• A gratitude journaling worksheet with four prompts and space for writing 🧰

• Good News links for a quick joy injection 🙌

Before we dive deeper into unlocking the power of thanks, I want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to you for being here—thank you! And, to the twists and turns of fortune that led me to work with Sarah Brassard on the Trauma Recovery Summit, paving the way for this newsletter.

First up, it’s time to deliver on my promise to share 6 out of twelve of my and summit attendees’ favorite sessions:

I also want to thank Virtual EMDR, a company making Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy more accessible to more people:

Let’s explore the origins of this holiday to see if there’s some wisdom to glean from the value humans seem to place on rituals of gratitude, to apply to our own lives.

Have you ever wondered why have so many peoples across time and territory placed such high value upon communal rituals of thankfulness? 

I believe this reflects the amazing power of gratitude to create harmony, happiness, and even future abundance. The near ubiquity of these celebrations reflects the wisdom that:

Most people understand that gratitude can help us feel better about who and what we have already in our lives—even if they don’t know how to realize these benefits.

Yet, the truth of its power to open space for new richness may not be so obvious. Sometimes, we have to experiment with ways to bring gratitude into our lives before we can see the subtle (and sometimes monumental) ways that life so often brings more goodness to the grateful.

Gratitude is a kind of love—for life, living, the universe, our ancestors, our friends and kin, and ourselves. It’s affirming who we are today, warts and all, as an expression of the wondrous (if sometimes scary and real-dang-confusing) process that is life. Practicing gratitude invites more than abundance: it’s a practice of love that in turn tends to beget more love.

Thanksgiving can be a great way to engage with this practice.

Yet, with the potential it holds for joy, togetherness, and contentment, the day also comes with stressors, dreads, and re-opened wounds for so many of us. 

What gets in the way of us feeling the joy of gratitude on this day and beyond?

I see two big obstacles:

1. We bring resentments, untended wounds, and unrealistic expectations to the day. Hard to feel grateful when we come up against tough family dynamics and the sense of pressure to cook the perfect turkey-day meal!

2. The holiday is like a high-stakes game day we haven’t prepared for—it’s an opportunity to come together with our people, practiced and ready for the big hurrah—yet we often don’t show up to practice, we haven’t forgiven ourselves and our team for our human frailties so we can come together for the win, then on game day we don’t arrive rested and ready to play.

We can overcome obstacle 1 with forgiveness.

If gratitude is love for what life has given us, what is forgiveness but releasing resentment of its slings and arrows? When we forgive, we make space for greater gratitude and deeper love.

Practicing forgiveness (and even simply understanding why it matters) can help us release the negative emotions we experience in the face of roadways and airways congested with grumpy fellow travelers, family members being their imperfect selves, and us being our imperfect selves. 

Once we’ve prepared to clear the hurdle of resentment of ourselves and others, opening more space for gratitude, it’s time to practice being grateful. It doesn’t always come easily.

Here’s one way to practice:

What if you don’t have time to practice before the big day? Maybe the holiday is upon you and you’re worried about what might goes sideways?

Play goes a long way! Soften up your mind by taking time for humor and positivity. Look for reasons to laugh and be silly. And star this email in your inbox so you can quickly find it and today’s good news!

Keep an eye out in December for the next edition, where I’ll share the other 6 most popular summit sessions along with some extra resources from the summit and some new practices and tools to help the holidays become a new year reset.

Plus, we’ll explore part 1 of the updated summit guidebook resource I shared in my previous email.

Until next time, I wish you an abundance of reasons to feel grateful! 

Warmly,
Brandon

P.S. Don’t forget to check out Virtual EMDR. Whether you use their online program or work with a therapist in person, EMDR is one of the most proven treatment modalities for trauma, anxiety, and more. Don’t just take my word. Read about the experiences of others here*.

* Disclosure: these are affiliate links, where we make a small commission if you sign up. But I would not share these if I was not a true believer!

P.P.S. Did you find this edition interesting, useful, or uplifting? Please respond with your thoughts! I’d love to hear from you and to post your kind words to the “wall of love” page I’ll be publishing soon.