“When you are grateful, you are not fearful, and when you are not fearful, you are not violent. When you are grateful, you act out of a sense of enough and not out of a sense of scarcity, and you are willing to share. If you are grateful, you are enjoying the differences between people and respectful to all people. A grateful world is a world of joyful people. A grateful world is a happy world.”

— Brother Steindl-Rast

Another Year, Another Thanksgiving

The holiday season is a reflective time. Marking another year filled with infinite memories and emotions — it is a reminder to step back and look over all that has occurred over a finite chunk of time.

Odds are, not everything has been good. Some might have been terrible, life-altering tragedies. Unfortunately, we have no control over the ill-fated events that might or might not have occurred. We don’t even have control over the pain, anger, or sadness we feel in response to life’s throws and punches.

Yet in the face of all these factors that are not within our control, we have one power that can never be taken away from us: our perspective.

The power to see the silver lining is the difference between living a life defined by our misfortunes, or using them to achieve happiness in spite of life’s difficulties.

A simple way to develop this power is to express gratitude. Being grateful shifts our focus on the negative, uncontrollable aspects of life to the positive potential that is presented to us every second we are alive.

Giving thanks can be captured in small moments, like a phone call to someone who gives you love or sending a text to someone who shows you kindness. Minuscule or grand, being thankful connects us to each other and our human existence.

As we make our way home to family and friends, take advantage of a few days to travel and explore, or simply take a break from the rush of life, each moment is an opportunity to express gratitude for our blessings, big or small. We encourage you to take it.

With love and intention,

SILK + SONDER