Happy Thanksgiving to all of our lovely readers! We are so grateful for you, our compatriots in this thirty-something journey. I know some of our readers are in Ireland, England and other countries all around the world – so you may not celebrate Thanksgiving.  But even if you don’t, there’s always a reason to be grateful, and a gratefulness practice has been proven to reduce depression, help you sleep better, and improve personal relationships.

For me, my “gratefulness” practice is to simply acknowledge moments when I’m happy and say a silent prayer for that moment. It’s guaranteed to happen at least once a day. For me, it’s sometimes after an amazing cup of coffee, a conversation with a friend, or a shared kvetching session with a fellow writer who just “gets” it after I’ve had a shitty day.

For instance, tonight. I spent the evening at my boyfriend’s dad house, in the company of my mom, his father and partner, and her son. It was a lovely evening of great company, delicious food, and relaxation. While it wasn’t a traditional family dinner, I’m grateful for this evening.

Here’s a beautiful quote by David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk –

“The root of joy is gratefulness…. It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.”

Sending you all love and happiness, wherever you may be. We’ll thrilled you’re reading and wouldn’t be writing without you.