Have You Thanked Yourself This Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving: A holiday of gathering with family and friends to feast in abundance; to warm ourselves with company during the darkening of the days and the chilling of the air.

Thanksgiving: When we make a point of sharing gratitude with each other, celebrating our connections, giving voice to the goodness in our lives.

What a wonderful opportunity to cultivate gratitude, that powerhouse of resilience and happiness.

And yet, I notice that so much of the focus on Thanksgiving is external—thankful for what we have and who we have in our lives. I also see an opportunity for the radical gift of thanksgiving for ourselves, for who we are.

Afterall, we are the center of our experiences, we are the generator of our perceptions, the heros and heroines of our own stories. To be grateful for everything out there and not include ourselves is to miss an amazing opportunity. 

"Whoa, that sounds selfish and self-absorbed," your inner critic may complain. Yet, as one of my coaches, Rosie Aiello, teaches, we must give of ourselves from our own abundance—we give from the overflow of our 'cup'. If we give from mere fullness, then we deplete ourselves, as we need our cup to be full for our own wellbeing.

Self-love and gratitude is essential to filling our cup to overflowing. You deserve to be included in your thanksgiving.

Salvidor Dali said it best, "Every morning when I wake up I experience an exquisite joy—the joy of being Salvidor Dali." We each have the opportunity to experience the joy of being ourselves—make a point of it this Thanksgiving.

Give Thanks For You This Thanksgiving:

Try these short and simple practices to connect to your value and to give thanks for yourself. If the inner critic gets too loud, ("You're crazy, you shouldn't focus on yourself, blah, blah, blah") thank her for her concern and ask her to take a 5 minute coffee break while you celebrate yourself.

1. Meditation:

Set a timer for 5 minutes. Close your eyes and think about all the wonderful qualities that you bring to the world. Think about all the value that you have contributed to your friends, family and community in the past year. Think about how you've enjoyed yourself, things you've learned and ways that you've grown. Place your hands over your heart and thank yourself for your life.

2. Write It Out:

Set a timer for 5 minutes. Similar to the meditation above, write about the wonderful qualities that you bring to the world. Write about the value that you have contributed to your friends, family and community in the past year.

If you have trouble getting started, or get stuck, try completing this sentence 10 times: I'm grateful for me because:

3. Partner Talk:

With a trusted partner, sibling, friend or parent, spend 5 minutes telling them what you're grateful for about yourself. Sharing your gratitudes out loud is very powerful, both because you hear yourself and have another person to receive and hold what you share.

If you struggle with connecting to the joy of being you, you have an opportunity to explore what's between you and that joy and make a plan and enlist help to change those beliefs. You deserve to be grateful for yourself. Start with yourself so your gratitude can flow into all aspects of your life, family and community.

Cara Cordoni supports high-achieving women in overcoming the inner-critic, reaching their unique and meaningful goals and creating lives they’re thrilled to be living.

For a limited time, Cara is offering 45 minute complimentary Stressed To Your Best Breakthrough sessions by phone. Schedule yours by emailing Cara at cara@flashlightcoaching.com.

Learn more about Cara's personal journey at www.flashlightcoaching.com/meet-cara.