Everyday Gratitude

With Thanksgiving just a few short days away and our December holidays right around the corner, 'tis the season for thankfulness.

Every year for Thanksgiving Carlos, my husband, and I go to our friends' Dale and Nikolai's house. Not only does Dale cook a meal to die for, and Nikolai create a mean cocktail of your choosing, and not only do we spend the day with friends and kids who we love, but each year Dale gathers us for a ritual of expressing our thanks.

When we arrive we are greeted with a bowl of slim pieces of sturdy paper, which have a piece of string or yarn attached and a pen. We are then to write those things that we are thankful for during this last year. Everyone writes - even the smallest of kids, who sometimes need a scribe.

Then we gather in a circle in the backyard, just prior to throwing ourselves at the feast on the table, and read our thanks out loud. Some are funny, some pull at the heart strings, and some, like the kids', are simple and touching and truthful.

Once everyone has spoken we tie our paper thanks on a ficus tree. Dale, Nikolai and their two boys get to enjoy the fluttering gratitude tree all year long.

Gratitude plays a big role for me, and a day does not go by that I don't express my thanks for something in my life. Hear more about what Nancy Marmolejo and I have to say about gratitude at the recent Coaching A Go Go podcast.

What are you thankful for and how can gratitude play a part in your life all year long? Leave a comment and let's hear from you.