November is National Gratitude month and combined with Thanksgiving is a great time to reflect on how we are thankful and grateful for the people and things in our lives. Many people use meditation or a gratitude journal to practice gratitude. Others find ways to volunteer in the community as an expression of gratitude. Few people realize that there are significant differences between thankfulness and gratitude and what we can do to practice both regularly.
Thankfulness is an emotion that is temporary. It is easy to be thankful and appreciate the warm feelings that comes with a gift or happy news. Thankfulness is a feeling in the moment that eventually fades. It is important for your relationships to feel and express thankfulness, but the feeling is tied to a particular event.
Gratitude is an attitude of appreciation under any circumstance. Gratitude means expressing thankfulness and being appreciative of life daily even when nothing exciting happens. Gratitude is about being content physically and mentally with the state of your life, even in the moments and days that you are not happy. Practicing gratitude trains our inner voice to stay positive and appreciative and strengthens relationships with loved ones through an ongoing showing of appreciation.
Even while being grateful and thankful for our family, for some it is hard to participate in family gatherings, particularly large ones. We like to think of families as centerpieces. They can be small or large, have one type of flower or one of every type of flower, and always manage to make a beautiful arrangement even when certain types wouldn’t normally be placed together. During the autumn season, our most requested flower is the chrysanthemum. If the chrysanthemum is your nuclear family, what other flowers would belong in your holiday centerpiece? Click here to let us know how we can customize a unique and personal centerpiece for all your holiday needs.
