As the seasons begin to change, many people start to experience great highs and significant lows in how they feel physically, mentally, and emotionally. This is a common occurrence with the climate changes, the holiday season approaching, and other activities that take precedent during this season. If you’re starting to feel overwhelmed, then it’s time to sit back, take a deep breath, and think of things to be thankful for.

Changing Your Mindset Can Help You Physically and Psychologically

Whether you’re feeling overloaded due to scheduling concerns or feeling run down from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) effects, it’s not uncommon to feel physically, mentally, and emotionally defeated. When that happens, it’s crucial to take the necessary steps to uplift your mood and change your thought process.

While research is still ongoing, it is believed that something as simple as adjusting to a more positive thought process can help:

• Lower rates of depression
• Improve cardiovascular health
• Lower levels of stress

One of the best ways to start changing your thought process is to begin listing things to be thankful for.

Things to be Thankful for as We Approach the End of the Year

Dwelling on things to be thankful for and why is an excellent practice to help bring your mindset into a healthy, positive space. Even better, instead of simply stating these things to yourself or in your mind, you can also write them down.

Writing down positive thoughts has several positive side effects, including:

• Allowing you to prioritize any problems, fears, or concerns you may have
• Giving you an outlet to track symptoms both physically and psychologically
• Helping you identify negative thoughts and behaviors

Not quite sure how to get started? Here are three categories to help you along:

Things to be Thankful for in Life

This is a great place to start because it allows you to really reflect on all that life has brought you in terms of family, friends, successes, etc. Instead of focusing on things that have you feeling overwhelmed and/or anxious, focus on thoughts such as:

• Having quality friends
• Having a pet to keep you company/comforted during rough times
• Having good health
• Having music to help uplift your spirits

The goal is to think outside the box. So, while it’s perfectly acceptable to be thankful for your friends and family, don’t limit your thoughts to just the “typical” things.

Things to be Thankful for Today

If you’re having a particularly difficult day for whatever reason, take a few moments to think about your day and what you can be thankful for at the moment. Things such as:

• A hot shower to help relax you
• Having food on the table
• Having the internet to help you reach out to loved ones

When thinking about things to be thankful for today, you want to think about the things that often give you immediate gratification.

Things to be Thankful for in a Relationship

If you’ve found that your home life or relationship has brought on some additional stress, then you may want to sit down and write down things to be thankful for in your relationship. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Being thankful for a partner that loves me for me – quirks and all
• Having a partner that takes the time to listen
• Having a partner that is willing to work together for a better tomorrow

Now, this does not apply to an abusive relationship (either physically or emotionally). This applies to the average relationship that may be dealing with a few bumps in the road. If you find yourself in a toxic relationship, never try to justify it and seek help if you need it to get yourself out.

Finding Things to be Thankful For is Easier Than You Think

While it can be initially difficult to find things to be thankful for, you’ll begin to notice all the good there is out there and within your daily life once you get the ball rolling. Take the time to dig into your feelings, and you’ll soon begin to see that there is much more to be thankful for than you think.

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