Do You Have The Attitude of Gratitude? | The Mister Brown Show: Thanksgiving Edition

What does it mean to have the attitude of gratitude?  As we enter this Thanksgiving holiday, I want to encourage you to look for the good. I want to take a break from the cultural, political, mandate, and vaccine topics and share some inspiring quotes and helpful activities that encourage you to have the attitude of gratitude. 

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Life Is Good!

I am not trying to dismiss the fact that there are struggles in life. However, I encourage you to take time to celebrate life and the joy it brings.  Be grateful, because life really is good! Let’s focus on the good stuff and build on it.  Look for the good so you have something positive to build on. If we only focus on the negative things in life, we only build on that negativity.  You have to choose the attitude of gratitude so you can build on the positive.  I am going to share with you a few encouraging quotes on gratitude and some fun Thanksgiving activities.

“If your cup is half-empty, be grateful you have a cup.” 

Take a moment, pump the brakes, and be happy you have a cup. I learned this concept when I was younger.  We didn’t have Air Jordan shoes, but we still had shoes.  When our pants had holes in them, we didn’t get new pants, my Momma would take our jeans and put patches on them. I learned to be happy because we still had shoes and pants! Sometimes the more ‘stuff’ you have, the more the ‘stuff’ ends up having you.  It’s all about the mindset of being grateful! You have to choose the attitude of gratitude.  

“When life is sweet, say ‘Thank You’ and celebrate. When life is bitter, say ‘Thank You’ and grow.”

The common denominator in this quote is saying “thank you.” You can choose to be thankful, even in the bad times. When life is bad or bitter, you can use it to grow.  I always say the tough times in life are lessons, not losses.  It’s all about your mindset and how you choose to view the struggles in your life. When I was younger and would get questions wrong on a test, I always wanted to know ‘Why?’  I would ask my teachers why I got questions wrong because I constantly wanted to grow.  Even when life is bitter, you can choose to be grateful and grow from it.  I encourage you to always be thankful and seize every opportunity to grow.  When circumstances in life don’t go well, don’t run from them, but learn from them.  “Don’t get bitter, get better.” 

“When you step in dog poop, be grateful you have shoes.” 

Instead of getting frustrated about having to clean your shoes, be grateful you had shoes in the first place.  There is constantly something to be grateful for, you just have to look for it. I am not telling you to ignore the hardships or problems, but choose to look for the good amidst the bad.  “Your mindset matters.” When you make the choice to look for the positive, you change your mindset.  During one of my monthly visits to a school, the office secretary told me that there was a student who had talked to her mom and wanted to have a conversation with me.  When I talked with her she expressed that she was depressed and explained the issues in her life that contributed to her depression.  Before she started explaining, I told her to “leave space in your story to be wrong. Sometimes we can make ourselves depressed by focusing on the wrong things.”  I asked her to email me for the next 5 days with 5 things she was thankful for.  At the end of the 5 days, I asked her how she felt. She told me she was doing better.  When I ran into their family at Costco, her mom told me how she could see a difference in her daughter.  This student was doing better because she was changing her focus.  She was focusing on the good instead of dwelling on the negative.  I don’t want to dismiss those with clinical depression. There are very big struggles in life.  I simply want to encourage you to understand the power of your mindset and the power of choices.  There is always something to be grateful for, even if it’s a pair of shoes.  

Activity: ABC’s Of Thanks

One of my family’s favorite Thanksgiving activities is the ABC’s of Thanks. (We actually play this all year round.) When you sit down at the dinner table, one person starts with the letter A and says something they are thankful for that starts with that letter.  The next person does B, the next person C, and so on until you get through the entire alphabet.  Not only is the person who is up thinking about the letter and what they are thankful for, but so is everyone else at the table.  We never leave the table upset or depressed because we spend so much time thinking about all of the things we are thankful for.  It is not like social media where you walk away saying “Ah, my food doesn’t look that good” or “my dog isn’t that cute.”  This activity is a great way to spend time with your family and focus on the positive in life by alphabetically naming all the things you are thankful for.  

Activity: The Thanksgiving Tree

Another Thanksgiving activity you can do is the Thanksgiving Tree.  You can draw or print off a picture of a tree trunk and hang it on your wall. Then, whenever someone walks by it, they write down something they are thankful for and add it to the top of the tree.  Eventually, you will have an entire tree of things your family is thankful for.  This activity is also a great way to write down and reflect on what you are thankful for.  

Activity: The Thanksgiving Pumpkin 

My wife created this activity with a decorative pumpkin.  She would take a pumpkin and a sharpie marker and write what each person at the dinner table was thankful for. Whenever somebody would come over, or even if it was just our family, she would ask what we were thankful for and then write it on the pumpkin.  Soon we would have decorative Thanksgiving Pumpkins with all the things we are thankful for written on them.  

Choose The Attitude of Gratitude 

I encourage you to spend your life finding things to be thankful for.  Having an attitude of gratitude is a choice that everyone has the power to make.  I choose the attitude of gratitude! Because when you make better choices, you will live a better life. So choose well. Oh Yeah!

Happy Thanksgiving!