Hey everyone! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? 

It happens to currently be my favorite time of year: the holiday season! There are so many wonderful memories that the holidays bring me back and so much time to think about family, unity, and sharing together. 

Though I’d absolutely love for it to be Christmas, like right now (we actually already decorated!), this month there is a holiday that I believe has lost meaning over the years and has been desensitized by media and commercialism. Yes, I’m talking about Thanksgiving.

Though I’d love to say that I see people counting their blessings and shouting from the rooftops how happy they are to be alive, that isn’t really the case.

Usually there are two focuses when it comes to Thanksgiving: endless food and stuffing yourself until you can’t cram anything else into your mouth, and the infamous day after this celebration, which happens to be my least favorite day in the whole year, Black Friday.

These two focuses have become the central reason for celebrating Thanksgiving, though my family really sees it as a reminder to be grateful for what we have and show gratitude to others.

Being grateful can be difficult, especially when you deal with issues and problems and I know sometimes I think, “What can possibly be good about this situation?” But it is worth it. It helps you be happier, avoid stress and contention, focus, and generally improve your performance.

I want to invite you to take the 30 Day Gratitude Challenge with me, where you consciously choose to be grateful for something every day, and write about it in your journal, or print it out and put it somewhere visible. I encourage you to add something new everyday.

I made a list of what I am grateful for, outlined below, and I invite you to not only write what you are grateful for, but why you are grateful for it. At the end of the month I’ll write a recap post with these 30 statements so you can see how it is done. 

Here are 30 things I am grateful for:

1. My mom
2. The right to express myself, freedom of speech
3. My family
4. The ability to travel
5. Friends
6. Social media and modern technology
7. Having a safe place to call home
8. Eating 3 meals a day
9. Being homeschooled
10. Reading books
11. Listening to music
12. Going outside
13. Public speaking
14. Being vegan
15. Having a blog and making a difference in the world
16. Having running water
17. Having a healthy body
18. Speaking 2 languages
19. Movies
20. Having skills and knowledge to make an income
21. Going to church
22. Having sisters
23. Singing
24. Playing the piano
25. Playing the guitar
26. Prayer
27. The Dominican Republic
28. Air conditioning
29. Transportation (cars, etc.)
30. Clothing

I hope that by taking this challenge, you will be able to learn the value of gratitude and I can promise you that when you choose to be grateful, you choose happiness for yourself and others. 

What are you grateful for?

[elisha]