Being grateful balances stress
Stress for Success
November 22, 2011


Thanksgiving reminds us to be grateful for what we have. This balances stress by providing a better perspective on life.

Listing what you’re grateful for in difficult situations also limits their ability to overwhelm you. So, if you’re stressed by a traffic jam remind yourself you’re grateful you’re A-C works, there’s good music to listen to, etc.

Today I challenge you to stretch your conscious awareness of what you’re grateful for. This serves as a reminder that life is significantly better than you sometimes think.

Here’s my partial list. I’ll start at the beginning.

I’m grateful I was born to my parents who encouraged in all of us kids curiosity, personal responsibility, self-confidence, kindness, etc. They passed on their love of music and supported our vocal and instrumental musical development. This gave me the wonderful skill of reading music, opening up a life-time of joy. The challenge of reading, learning and performing with the Symphonic Chorale of SW FL (our new name) gives me bliss.

I’m also grateful my parents encouraged me to pursue whatever I wanted, which led me to a great education and a 27-month stint in the Peace Corps. This experience greatly expanded my mind through adventures, learning a second language and fascinating relationships. It made me realize I needed to work in the world of ideas, which has fueled my motivation since the 1970s.

I’m eternally grateful that I married a loving, kind, intelligent, creative and funny man; my best friend for almost 35 years. I’m thankful for the trust we have and the security that engenders. This loving existence almost certainly contributes to our on-going good health, for which I’m eternally thankful.

I’m also eternally grateful for our wide circle of dear friends. We’ve helped each other through great times and not-so-great ones. We’re always there for each other. We laugh and we cry - together.

I must include our local weather: no hurricanes this year, just plenty of nourishing rain, and an early fall, always good for my thinning MN blood.

We’re grateful our house sale, finding and buying a new one and moving are behind us. Good grief! We’re thankful our beloved cat, who went missing for two weeks after moving into our new neighborhood, found his way back home. We’re so impressed with the many kind neighbors who helped us look for him.

I’m grateful for sunsets and sun rises, the sound of the wind through the pine trees, no mortgage, funny people, my husband’s great cooking, the sweet premature babies I volunteer with at Health Park and the incredible nurses who run the Progressive Care Nursery. I’m thankful for a good night’s sleep, meditation, a commitment to things that are bigger than myself, that I virtually never get bored, and summers off – soon.

What are you thankful for? Make a very long list. Review it, especially when times are difficult. In anxious situations list a few things about that very situation for which you’re grateful. You minimize your stress each time you do this.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., is an international speaker and a Stress and Wellness Coach. Order her book, Let Your Body Win: Stress Management Plain & Simple, at http://www.letyourbodywin.com/bookstore.html. Email her to request she speak to your organization at jferg8@aol.com.