Hello Brains, it's Thanksgiving, which means it's time for
FOOOOOD
...and gratitude
[ding]
[Intro Music]
For American brains, it's Thanksgiving!
The day when we try to remember all the things we're thankful for.
Or, one of the days.
If you've ever been on "the internet",
you've probably heard that we should practice being grateful everyday to help us feel happy with our lives.
Usually this recommendation comes in the form of "You should make a gratitude list!"
but maybe, just maybe,
gratitude lists don't work for you.
[ding]
To be honest, gratitude lists tend to stress me out, and writing them just made Edward more depressed.
[sad music]
In our experience, asking our brains to be grateful on command is a lot like asking them not to think of pink elephants.
We can try, but our brains don't always cooperate.
[pink elephant sounds]
Ah! Does that mean we're destined to go through life being ungrateful,
miserable human beings? Of course not. I'm happy and grateful like 80% of the time.
Okay, 85%
One of the things I'm most grateful for is that I don't have to make gratitude lists to feel grateful.
Turns out gratitude doesn't come from naming what you're grateful for, it comes from processing why you're grateful for it.
Why it matters to you.
If gratitude lists help you do that, awesome, you win a cat video.
(meow)
But for those of you who don't find gratitude lists very helpful or want to try something new,
here are three ways to be grateful that don't involve gratitude lists.
One: notice when life is being awesome while it's happening!
When you're having a good day or someone does something nice for you
or you're eating something delicious, take a little time to slow down and enjoy it.
Edward and I do this all the time, which means sometimes it sounds like happy aliens have taken over our bodies.
"Can you believe we get to LIVE here? As long as we keep paying the bills, no one can kick us out!"
"Ahh, this blanket is so snuggly!"
"Hey remember when we were fighting about schedules last month?" "Yeah?" "WE'RE NOT DOING THAT NOW!" "Yay progress"
Being mindful can boost happiness even when things aren't going our way, so it's a good habit to practice in general.
Check out this video for more.
Two: Write a reverse bucket list.
Instead of listing all of the things that you hope to do someday, write a list of all the awesome stuff you've already done.
It can be big stuff, "Did a TEDX talk", but it can be really small stuff, too; "Organized my sock drawer".
Whatever you're proud of, whatever matters to you. These are both on mine.
This isn't directly connected with gratitude, but it does have to do with feeling happy about your life.
If you're anything like me, you probably brush past your accomplishments and focus on all the stuff you still haven't done.
Making a reverse bucket list can give you a chance to reflect on all the cool stuff you've already accomplished in your life.
Bonus: it'll remind you how capable you really are,
which can be really helpful on days when you can't bring yourself to face that sock drawer.
You can also do this daily, in the form of a To Did list.
[ding]
Three: Thank people, and make it as specific as possible.
Again, it's not about the thing they did, it's about why it was important to you.
"Thank you for helping me earlier.
I know you were busy and I appreciate you taking the time to help me break down that project.
It helped me get started".
Written thank you notes can be even more powerful, but if you're like me and have no idea where the stamps are, there's still hope.
If you're at a restaurant, write it on the receipt,
draw it on a whiteboard and text a picture to your friend,
and when in doubt, sticky notes!
I happen to have a video camera at my disposal, so I decided to record a thank you note to you.
You can watch it here.
And I really need to thank my Brain Advocates and all my Patreon Brains this month for
Well, how do I say this,
Just watch the video. That's it for this week, go enjoy turkey!
And if you're not in the US or it's not Thanksgiving,
you can still be grateful, and enjoy turkey for that matter.
And if someone tells you something they're grateful for, do them a favor and ask them why.
See you next week. Bye Brains!
[Music]