The Healthiest People I Know Do This Thing

You guys, don’t shoot the messenger. 

But the healthiest people I know do this one thing.

First, let’s define "healthy". When I think of someone emotionally, mentally, and spiritually healthy - I think of someone who can make space for joy and grief, good and bad in their lives and the lives of others. I think of someone who is ready for what the day brings. That’s it. They’re not stuck in the past, processing what held them back - but they’re also not living paralyzed or constantly projected into the future. 

And I notice this one thing about all of them: they actively practice gratitude. 

They practice it privately, corporately, out loud, in the quiet spaces, for the big things and the small things. They ask other people what they’re grateful for. They expect to find thankfulness wherever they go. 

It doesn’t mean they ignore the bad, and it doesn’t mean they’re optimistic to a fault. But they cultivate gratitude for whatever is happening, because it changes them and strengthens them.

Fall is known for harvest, and with November we associate with thanks. What if the one thing that might help us acknowledge just how fruitful this year has been is the practice of saying “Thank You” to God for it? 

What if the one thing that is standing between ourselves and a more healthy version of ourselves is gratitude? 

I posted yesterday about gratitude + cynicism. If you need a space to practice thankfulness TODAY - come comment on this post and tell me what you’re grateful for. I’ll hold it with you and thank God alongside you.