Most Americans in our country spent a lot of time and money getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday. Unless, your religion or ethnicity does not acknowledge it, you were amongst the millions eating Turkey this past Thursday. We did at our house, and it was so good. Some of my family said that the stuffing made the meal. Some loved the desserts, others the mashed or sweet potatoes.

It has been a tradition of my family’s to tell each other what we are thankful for in the past year. Sometimes, I get bothered by how it is not taken seriously. Traditions do come and go, but for some of us, they are hard to let go after so many years.

Is it right to laugh at tradition? Is it right to put someone down because of tradition? Probably not but in America we see it happen all the time.

Things that we don’t do or think are foreign to us and at times, make us uncomfortable. Some of us are simply creatures of habit and we will do the same thing over and over and never even consider changing it up a bit.

Family members grow up and begin to celebrate differently and start their own traditions. There is nothing wrong with this. Our kids will all grow up, move out and begin to change it up a bit. Some will follow the same traditions in their new families. Either way, respecting each other is important.

Being thankful for each other, our jobs, our friends, our material things, our lives/health is so important. We need to be grateful all year, every year, rather than just at Thanksgiving time. This helps us to keep a perspective that is built on good things and not bad. Remember when someone tells you to “count your blessings” that it is healthy for us to do so physically, spiritually, emotionally and cognitively.

We hear all the time to “Have an attitude of gratitude” and we laugh it off but truly, we should.

I would encourage you to consider this as being your goal for the rest of this year and the years to come.

Write down 10 things you are grateful for right now and add to the list 3-5 things every week and at the end of the year, you will have a whole new outlook on life.

I dare you to try!