I love that we all pause for a national holiday to gather with friends and family to give thanks for all we have, including each other (maybe other than your wackadoodle Uncle Bob).

Then Friday comes and we eat leftovers with nary a thought about gratitude. By the time we return to work on Monday, giving thanks is history as we resume our busy lives and daily tasks.

We have it backwards.

Feeling grateful everyday is truly one of the keys to living joyfully.

Gratitude keeps us grounded in the present. When we live in gratitude, we are thankful for what we have right now in this moment.

We are not fretting about the “what ifs” of the future.

We are not despairing over mistakes or misfortunes of the past.

Gratitude is heart centered and it’s good for your heart, literally. Living in the here and now is calming.

“But,” you may be saying, “my life isn’t so great.”

Gratitude isn’t about greatness. It’s about gratefulness.

Gratitude is about the gifts in your not-so-great life.

I’ve written about my gratitude surrounding my son’s incurable illness and my husband’s heart attack this year. No, I wouldn’t have chosen these struggles, but I wasn’t given a vote.

I will be celebrating Thanksgiving with both of them at the table. It doesn’t get better than that.

Make Thanksgiving day one of your daily gratitude practice. Get a journal and write 3-5 gratitude entries each day.

By next Thanksgiving you’ll even be grateful to see wackadoodle Uncle Bob.