We are not meant to live in isolation. What makes us healthy and whole is the connections we form with one another.  With our families. Our friends. Our colleagues and our community…  The thing we need the most to feel healthy has become harder to get.

After more than 30 years in the field of social work, I know one thing to be true. We do not need to be victims to our situation. We have choices to make, each and every day about how we want to live our lives. How we choose to show up for ourselves and each other.

Practice #16 - Give Thanks

When I was growing up, we’d start each meal by saying grace. We’d hold hands and recite a prayer together. “Bless us o’lord and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty.” We’d mumble it as fast as we could, never paying attention to what we were actually saying. Dinner was waiting.

When my kids were little we’d say grace too, but instead of a rote prayer we’d hold hands and think of something we were grateful for that day. The food. A good baseball practice. Getting a haircut. If I’m being honest, it also had a tendency to become rote. We got lazy. Repetitive. Sometimes the day had been a total disaster and one or more of us were hard pressed to think of anything at all to be grateful for. But that was sometimes. Other times we were more thoughtful. More reflective. More aware.

Still, just the act of stopping for a minute and bringing to mind something we were grateful for is important. The science of gratitude is clear. Gratitude improves health and relationships. Increases empathy and self esteem and yes, it even improves sleep.

So even in these difficult times, find something, anything to be grateful for. What have you got to lose?

Try this: Make a gratitude jar. Find a large jar, an empty coffee can, or the former home of your goldfish Steve Young. Reflect on your day. Pick something you’re grateful for. It could be a big thing, like having a place to live or food on the table. It could be a small thing, like a morning cup of coffee in your favorite new mug or spending a few minutes lying in the hammock after a day spent working in the garden. Don’t judge what comes up. Each day before you go to bed at night, take a slip of paper and write down what you’re grateful for. Date it and drop it in the jar.

Note: Mug by @heatherfordhamceramics