Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving week is here. 💕

Despite knowing our holiday celebration will be low-key this year, I’m excited about the upcoming four-day weekend with K and Scooter. There is the promise of cooking once and eating leftovers for days, sleeping in after watching holiday movies (with popcorn) late into the evening, and wrapping up some of the organizing projects that we’ve started. We might go for a run or two, and we’ll probably spend some time walking…and there will definitely be pumpkin pie!

More than once over the past eight months, I’ve realized that the long list of what I’m grateful for right now is not the same as what I valued most at this time last year.

Aside from my family and my health, which both remain at the top of my list, the rest of my list has been reordered, with some things taking a higher position and other things dropping down or falling off of the list.

This year, I’ve been able to spend more time exercising, and, as a result, that has meant more time for long conversations with K and less time spent driving all over the city.

We’ve also spent more time cooking together, making everything from burrito bowls and tacos to stir-fry. The happy result is eating less processed food, cutting our overall food budget, and, again, having more time for talking with one another.

I’ve also realized how much I miss and appreciate my friends, and I’m so thankful for the technology that can connect us when we’re not together in the same location.

How has the list of things you are grateful for changed (or not) over the past year? Do you feel like it’s easier or harder to determine what is important right now?

Understanding what you value can provide more clarity as you make adjustments to your own routines, now and going forward as the world continues to change.

We may not be able to predict the future with significant certainty, but we can take stock of what we are grateful for and use that information to include more of what we appreciate in our lives.

And, of course, what we are thankful for may change over time, though I’d venture that the main things hold constant for many of us.

For me… Health. Family. Friends.

What’s on your list? Has your list gotten longer or shorter? How does exercise fit in?

As you take inventory of what you are thankful for this week and evaluate how activities such as exercise can impact the way you see the world, I hope that you will carry the spirit of gratitude with you throughout the remainder of the year and beyond.