Written by: Courtney Richardson
Tis’ the season for gratitude. I’ve always found this phrase interesting. There are seasons for weather, seasons for holidays, seasons for athletics, etc. but having a “season” for gratitude seems a bit underwhelming. Gratitude isn’t something that should be limited to one season, but instead should be lived and experienced during all seasons of life.
Have you ever noticed that people are extra “merry & cherry” around the holidays? They do extra good deeds, such as donating money to the salvation army folks outside grocery stores or drop an extra five in the hands of a homeless man on the streets of a major city. I cherish these acts of kindness and love when people give and brighten the day of a neighbor, but what’s the purpose, what’s the motive?
In my humble opinion, it often seems like the motive lies in the nature of humankind. People love to give and do good deeds for the benefit of their human soul. Similar to eating a chocolate bar, these acts may give them a brief spike of good emotions. This spike of good emotions around the holiday season somehow bandages one’s lack of gratefulness throughout the year in order to enhance their current holiday spirit.
What if we didn’t see the “gratitude and cheerful” season as a bandage or an opportunity to do good deeds for personal benefit, but instead lived out of a place of gratitude and cheerfulness the whole year. This time of year would then become an authentic reminder of the way we should live 365 days of the year.
I challenge everyone, including myself, to witness and observe all the things they are grateful for this holiday season, not to simply feel the holiday spirit, but to be reminded of why we should practice the art of gratitude in every breath we take once the “season” of gratitude subsides.
It is not the joy of the holiday season that makes us grateful, it is the gratitude of all things that make us forever joyful.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! With gratitude,
Courtney Richardson
DU Sport Psych 