The season of "Giving Thanks" is here and many of us are preparing to enjoy food, fun, family and friends.   For most it’s an opportunity to spend quality time with loved ones we see daily or those we haven’t seen in a while.  It’s a season that boasts gratitude.  Gratitude is learning to live your life as if everything were a miracle, and being aware on a continuous basis of how much you’ve been given. Gratitude shifts our focus from what our life lacks to the abundance that is already present.
 
After reading a post entitled “Why I am Thankful for – Autism”, written by a mother whose son has Asperger’s Syndrome, I better understand the importance of “Being Thankful in All Things.”  The mom discusses her feelings of frustration and being overwhelmed.  Yet she also reflects that she’s thankful for the parts of her son that have been made special by his diagnosis.  Click here for more information on this mom’s story.
 
According to Psychology Today- gratitude (thankfulness) enables us to connect with something that is not only larger than ourselves but also fundamentally good and reassuring. It opens our eyes to the miracle that is life, something to marvel at, revel in, and celebrate, rather than ignore or take for granted as it flies by. It encourages and heightens life-enhancing states such as joy, tranquility, consciousness, enthusiasm, and empathy, while inhibiting painful emotions such as anxiety, heartbreak, loneliness, regret, and envy, with which it is fundamentally incompatible.
 
While this season is the perfect time to stop and give thanks.  I challenge each of us to thank a co-worker, your spouse, your child, a friend, the guy who holds the door open for you, or the waitress who brings you coffee with a smile, and see if you don't feel a little better after doing it.  Let us continue to strive each day to be thankful in all things.