Finding Joy In Thanksgiving

I absolutely love the fact that we have an entire holiday set aside on our calendars for the purpose of THANKFULNESS. Gratitude is one of the most powerful emotions we have ever been blessed with. But it is more than just an emotion or a mood. Gratitude is a personality trait. People who are grateful more often are stressed less often.

More than any other personality trait, gratitude is strongly linked to mental health and life satisfaction. This is a documented fact. Grateful people experience more joy, love, and enthusiasm. Additionally, grateful people are protected from destructive emotions like envy, greed, and bitterness.

According to research from the Institute of HeartMath, gratitude improves the heart's rhythmic functioning, which physiologically helps us to reduce stress, helps us to think more clearly when we are under pressure, and helps us to actually heal physically.

I say this often because it is true and it is a great reminder. It is physiologically impossible to be stressed and thankful at the same time. When you are grateful you flood your brain and your body with emotions and endorphins that uplift and energize you, which suppress the stress hormones that drain you.

Why would anyone not choose GRATITUDE over stress? That is the most exciting thing about gratitude. It is a choice. You don't have to wait for it to come along. It's not even based on your circumstances.

I know this is true because, in my lifetime, the most grateful and content people I have ever met were in a little village in Honduras by the name of Ocotillo. In this village, "homes" were built with cardboard or anything they could find to piece together and provide a little bit of shelter for their families. Floors were the dirt ground, and sewage literally ran through their streets. As I walked from home to home, delivering supplies for the care of newborn babies, I met these proud new parents and was completely blown away by their outlook on life. And I was humbled.

They offered me their seats as they sat on the dirt floor. Their newborn baby was nestled into a makeshift hammock inside the little hut. When I walked in, they welcomed me with smiles and insisted that I hold their child. They were as proud as any new parents I had ever seen.

With each passing day of my two-week visit in that little Honduran village, I became more and more aware that these people had an abundance of something. In fact, they had more of it than I had ever known. They hadn't had nearly the privileges that I had experienced throughout my life. I was in no way a wealthy person, but in comparison to them, I was rich. They had nothing. At 26 years of age, I had so much more than they would ever gain in their entire lifetimes. Yet, they seemed to have one thing that I did not have, and it was one thing that is worth more than anything this world could possibly offer.

They had JOY. And they had an abundance of it. How could this be? How could they have more joy than I? I certainly had more reason to have greater joy, but it was obvious they knew something about joy that I did not know.

After two weeks with these awesome people, I finally began putting two and two together. The thing they knew about joy is that it is not tied to our stuff. It's not dependent upon our circumstances. It's not connected to our experiences. You see, I had been confusing happiness for joy.

Happiness is fleeting. It comes and goes. That is because happiness is dependent upon circumstances. Too often we find ourselves faced with circumstances that don't make us happy. Other times our circumstances do make us happy and we confuse that momentary pleasure with joy. But it’s not really joy. We’re just happy that it’s Friday, or we just won a game, or we just discovered a $20 bill in our jacket pocket. As soon as Monday comes, we lose the game, and spend the $20, our mood changes.

Joy is not a mood. Joy is a state of being. It is a decision. A choice. It is your personality. It is a way of living that you have determined you are going to embrace. No one can take it away from you and no circumstance can change it.

Joy is powerful. Joy runs deep. It gets down into the core of your being and changes your entire perspective. It recolors the way you see life and life’s circumstances. Joy puts you in control. Those who live for momentary happiness are subject to circumstances. They are not in control of their outlook, which has been by their own choice. The good news is, anyone can determine to take back this control any time they want. When you have joy, you are saying to your circumstances, "I will not be enslaved to you! My perspective, my emotions, my reactions, will not be subject to whatever you bring me from one moment to the next."

How do you practically and tangibly make this happen? How do you get more joy?

With thanksgiving. Choosing to be thankful literally and tangibly reduces stress, frees your mind and lifts you up with positive energy to face any challenges that have come your way. My Honduran friends were so grateful to see me. I saw their gratitude expressed in so many ways during the two weeks I was with them. I was there to serve them, but they continually insisted on serving me. I was there to bless them, but they blessed me so much more. I was there to give to them from my abundance, but they already had abundantly more of something that was worth far greater than anything I brought to them.

They had joy. And they had joy because they knew the secret to unlock it. Gratitude. Thankfulness. You don't need much of anything else when you have these things.

Happy Thanksgiving.