As we started 2020, no one could have imagined where we’d be right now or that this pandemic would have lasted for so long. In Toronto, we’re back in lockdown and experts are advising against gathering for the Holidays, leaving many feeling frustrated, tired and dejected. How about you?

Yet there’s hope in sight as tests of vaccines are appearing to be highly effective. However, until they’re widely available, we must remain vigilant and pro-active. We’ve come too far to let up now.

Now matter how you’re feeling about the state of the world or your corner of it, there’s an opportunity to feel better.

In fact, that opportunity is always there if you can shift your focus from what you feel is missing to what good is already around you.

As the U.S.A. is approaching their Thanksgiving weekend, it’s a great reminder to us all to focus on what we have to be grateful for, right here, right now, and especially this year.

The practice of gratitude: 

Gratitude helps shift your attention from things you don’t want or feel are wrong to all that is currently good and right.

Gratitude helps you feel better. The energy field around your heart and body actually expands. If you’re feeling low, looking for things to feel grateful for helps you feel more hopeful. From hope, gratitude helps you move into optimism, then belief, happiness then joy.

Gratitude is a practice. It requires you to consciously notice what you’re focusing on and make the necessary changes. If you’re feeling negative, it’s an indicator that you’re focused on the negative. A gratitude practice helps you move the needle toward the positive. Like any practice, the more you do it, the more effective it is.

While this Holiday season will look very different for most of us, there’s still so much to be grateful for.

Here are a few things I’m grateful for today:

• technology that helps us connect
  • Remember when you could only phone your grandmother on a Sunday because that’s when long distance charges were cheapest? Plus, you couldn’t see the smile on her face and the twinkle in her eye as you shared your latest news. Services like Zoom, Skype and FaceTime allow us to see the faces of our loved ones no matter how far away they live, and at no cost financially or to anyone’s health. We have it so easy and good right now!
• credit card technology
  • Weren’t we told that coins and dollar bills were about the germiest things on the planet? In a time when we’re all hyper-aware of keeping our hands clean, money can now be exchanged virtually or virtually hands-free. Today, you can sit on your couch and do all your shopping. From online ordering and money collection software like PayPal and Stripe to e-transfers and “tap” on the machines at store counters (if you do leave the sofa), you can quickly and easily buy what you need without anyone else touching your credit card, let alone having to go to the cash machine first. How easy is that?!
• delivery services galore
  • This feature that so many stores have incorporated has really helped ease the worry, movement and crowding of people, thereby helping slow the spread of COVID-19. Curb-side pick up has helped too. All while helping to keep local businesses in business. Yes, it’s helped the big guys like Amazon get bigger too, but who’s filling the orders, moving the goods and delivering them to your home? Countless businesses are benefiting keeping people employed and creating more jobs. Thanks to all the unsung heroes behind the scenes!
• heat and hydro are still working fine
  • This could be SO much worse, especially with winter approaching. I’m grateful we live now. Even kings and queens of old didn’t have hot water at the turn of a tap, not to mention lights, furnaces, electric stoves, computers, cell phones… We have so much abundance at the flick of a switch.
• medical advances
  • Never before have we had the medical knowledge and advances that we do right at this moment. And every day the knowledge is increasing as scientists work tirelessly to create, test and perfect a vaccine for the good of everyone. Plus doctors and nurses have been working around the clock, month after month, healing thousands of people with what they’re learning hands-on. What we have available to us at this moment wasn’t possible or even thought of in the days of the Spanish flu. We’re living in amazing times. We owe so much to these people who put their lives on the line daily for the good of us all.
• healthy food and supplements
  • Today, we have easy, year-round access to healthy food from all corners of the globe thanks to all the people working so hard to keep our food growing and supply chains functioning. The logistics alone are mind-boggling!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

​​​​​​​Those are just a few examples of things to be grateful for at this time in history, even as we’re collectively and individually living through a pandemic. And I haven’t even touched on the personal, like the special people in your life, pets that bring you joy, hobbies and talents that allow your creativity to flow…

It’s easy to take things or people for granted or slip into feeling like things are working against you. However, if you make a daily practice of looking for all you have to be grateful for, you may be surprised at how much you find. Keep a gratitude journal or simply run through a list in your head a few times a day; the method isn’t as important as the practice. 

Allow yourself to feel the gratitude too: that’s where the real magic of a gratitude practice lies.

What are you grateful for in your life?
Who in your life are you grateful for? Why not send them a little note? It will lift both of your spirits. Love has no borders or restrictions, and it’s the next best thing to being there. 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​I’m now accepting applications for my Say Yes To You Mastermind program which begins January 4th, 2021
This program is a six-month journey for a maximum of 6 women. It’s an opportunity to work closely with me and an inspiring group of women as you say Yes to You and consciously create your next joyful life chapter. Details and application can be found by clicking the button below.

Details and application here 
Deadline for applications: Nov. 30th, 2020.