Podcast Episode 110 - The Thanksgiving Chain - How each chain sets you free
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Do you ever get caught up in the day-to-day and forget to enjoy the beautiful moments?
Does your life feel like one big chore or to-do list?
Have you ever felt like the world is against you?
Today, we’re talking about the key to enjoying a life full of joy and freedom.
Today is for you:
If your days, weeks, and months go by, but you’re not enjoying them.
If you quickly forget about the good in your life or struggle to see it.
If you get caught up in all the jobs, tasks, to-dos and chores, the endless things to do, and you stop enjoying life.
My daughter Aubrey came home yesterday with a paper chain. I thought, “it’s a bit early for Christmas.”
“It’s a Thanksgiving chain!”
“It’s a what? Aubrey, tell me about that.”
She showed me that each chain had something she was thankful for.
Aubrey listed: books, colors, my body, hot air balloons, teachers, plushy (aka stuffed animals), cousins, my aunt, friends, family, my room, my life and Jesus.
Wow! My nine-year-old got it. She was so full of joy sharing her thankfulness!
It hit me, “how many of us as adults remember to be thankful for the big things but forget to be thankful for small things?”
Thankfulness is vital for your joy.
It shifts your perspective by telling your mind what’s important. When you notice the good, you see more good.
When I bought my first car, a white VW Fox, at 18 years old, it was only $9,000 for a new vehicle…those were the days…LOL!
What was interesting is I started noticing VW Foxes all over the place. White ones, red ones and black ones…it was a basic car. That’s what you get for 9K, right?!
Why did I see them all over the place?
I was focused on a VW Fox. It told my mind that’s what’s important to me. So it started seeing them all over.
Thankfulness works the same way.
When you focus on things to be thankful for, you’ll see more things to be grateful for.
Here are three types of things I want you to be thankful for.
1. Big Things
Aubrey said she is thankful for her life, Jesus, her family and her friends!
What are the big things in your life you can be thankful for?
Did you wake up today? That’s a big thing to be thankful for!
2. Small Things
Aubrey said she is thankful for books, hot air balloons, and plushies.
Hot air balloons make me smile. I always point them out to the kids. One day a hot air balloon landed in our neighborhood, and Aubrey got to meet the balloonist (is that what you call a hot air balloon driver? Hmm…). That small thing marked her.
What are the small things in your life you can be thankful for?
There was a day we didn’t have books.
3. Forgotten Things
Aubrey wrote down she was thankful for colors and her body.
I love that she mentioned colors. The world is full of color and makes life alive and vibrant. I’m sure thankful for the color! God couldn’t have made the world full of grays, but He didn’t.
What are the forgotten things in your life you can be thankful for?
What about your body? When was the last time you were thankful for that?
Last night I watched the semi-finals of Dancing with the Stars. One of the dancers, Daniel, is deaf. He can’t hear the music, yet he dances beautifully to it. There was a moment in his and Britt’s routine when they purposefully stopped the music and kept dancing. The music started back up, and they finished the performance.
At that moment, I realized how thankful I am to be able to hear music! I had forgotten to be grateful for the simple joy of hearing a great dance beat!!
What do you take for granted that you can be thankful for? Name it.
You can write down what you’re thankful for.
You can make a thanksgiving paper chain and put it somewhere you can see it. You only need paper, a stapler or tape, crayons, or colored pens.
Each chain of thanksgiving brings you freedom and joy.
You could also put the things you’re thankful for in a jar and pick one out daily to remind yourself to be grateful.
When you focus on the good in your life, you get more of it and notice more of it!
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