Thanksgiving is a great time to catalog what you’re thankful for each year. When you’re making your gratitude list this Thanksgiving, don’t forget to thank yourself! Don’t know how? Come with me and you’ll see how!
Show of hands: how many of you make a gratitude list on or around Thanksgiving every year? This can look like a big public show of what you’re grateful for as you go around the Thanksgiving table or a list scratched on a piece of scratch paper. If you make a Thanksgiving gratitude list each year, you probably put things like your friends and family, your faith, and things that save your life on the daily on it. Do you ever put yourself on your gratitude list? If you don’t, now is the time to start!
You absolutely need to thank yourself, especially at Thanksgiving! You do so much for yourself and your family every single day, and you deserve recognition for all you do. Of course, your family, friends, and coworkers can recognize your contributions, but you should recognize yourself. Many of you are probably cringing at this idea because we are really bad at being thankful for ourselves and showing self-appreciation and self-compassion. But you rock! Thank yourself this Thanksgiving (and keep thanking yourself all year long)!
Because we aren’t used to thanking ourselves, many of us have absolutely no idea how to even start. I’ve got some ideas of how you can start, but the world is your oyster here. If you can think of other ways to thank yourself that aren’t on this list, do those! However you decide to do it, I hope you start thanking yourself this Thanksgiving!
How to Thank Yourself This Thanksgiving
Say thank you
We are going to start our journey to learn to thank ourselves easily. Simple thank yourself. I mean verbally, out loud. Thank yourself when you do something that deserves thanks. Did you wash, dry, fold, and put away an entire load of laundry in a single day? Say thank you. Did you make dinner for your family that you thought everyone would eat? Say thank you (even if no one ate it). Did you get out of bed and put one foot in front of the other today? Say thank you. Turn thanking yourself into a habit so it becomes something that doesn’t seem so foreign to you.
Meditate
Another fairly easily way to thank yourself is to meditate. Now, I’m not talking about full-on transcendental meditation (although I’m certainly not opposed to you doing that). I’m just talking about taking a moment to quiet yourself and appreciate that you are alive. My favorite way to meditate is to focus on my breath. Of course, you can just sit on the couch and focus on breathing in and out, but my favorite way to center myself is to do a little at-home yoga. I really like to dial up Yoga with Adriene on YouTube and lose myself to my breath for 20-30 minutes. It gives my body a little exercise too, which is a great bonus. Namaste!
Journal
Remember back to when you were a preteen or teen. You probably had a journal into which you poured your deepest, darkest secrets. Although that was a great way for a 13-year-old girl to use a journal, adult journaling can be so much more than a safe place to put things you might be a little embarrassed to say out loud. Journaling can be a great way to work through things that are hard and a great way to celebrate your joy. It can also be a wonderful way to thank yourself.
I do my journaling in my calendar. I use a paper calendar/planner from the Happy Planner called a Dashboard planner, which is a really cool layout that gives you places to write your plans for each day but also gives you some free space to use for whatever you need. I take one of these free sections and devote it to journaling each week. Most of my journaling centers around gratitude, and I try to make at least one of the things I’m grateful for be about me. It’s an easy way to say thank you to myself each week and it gives me a written record of how awesome I am so that when I’m feeling down on myself, I can flip through and remind myself that I’m pretty cool.
Accept a compliment
Oh man, do I need to work on this in my life! Compliments can be so hard to accept. But a great way to thank yourself is to let people thank you and tell you how great you are. How exactly do you accept a compliment? When someone gives you a compliment, don’t downplay what you did or how you look. Just say thank you. When you say thank you to the person who is complimenting you, you’re actually saying thank you to yourself too.
Take time for you
I know that many of us are running from obligation to obligation and have very little time for ourselves. It is so important to carve out some time for yourself to do something just for you. Read a book, engage in your hobby of choice, take a bath. Doing anything that fills your cup is a great way to thank yourself. Don’t skimp on this one!
Make your favorite meal
I don’t know about you, but I love food. It is my comfort and my biggest joy (besides my kids). But here at Thanksgiving, you’re not necessarily making your favorite foods. Instead, you’re making holiday foods that you may or may not love. Heck, this isn’t unique to Thanksgiving. If you have kids, you’re often making food that you know your kids will eat rather than food that fills your soul along with your belly. So, take some time to thank yourself this Thanksgiving by making your favorite meal. Don’t worry about whether your kids will eat it. It won’t kill them to eat frozen pizza or chicken nuggets. If you love Thai food, make yourself some Thai food? Love spicy buffalo chicken wings? That’s what you need to eat one night this week. Prioritize your palate to thank yourself this week, friends!
Eat the pie
I beg of you, friends, eat the pie this Thanksgiving to thank yourself for being awesome. Thanksgiving is not the time to worry about your waistline and skip dessert if you feel like you’ve overindulged with mashed potatoes and stuffing. This is especially true if you’ve slaved over the stove for three days making a meal that your extended family will love. Eat the dang pie. Heck, eat two pieces of pie. You deserve it!
Buy yourself something
Although I’m not a retail therapy type of person, occasionally buying yourself a little something to make you smile is a great way to thank yourself. This can be especially true during the holiday season when you might not have someone who wants to buy you gifts. Don’t let that stop you from getting what you want. Buy yourself a gift, wrap that bad boy up, and place it under the tree. If you need some help making your list or deciding what to buy for yourself, I made a whole list of items that you might want to consider.
For me, I think I’m going to buy myself a new sweater to wear on Thanksgiving. I usually host Thanksgiving, so I’m usually a hot mess by the time my guests arrive. This year, I want to look more like a human, and I think a new sweater is just the ticket to get me there!
Take a break
In our culture, it’s often frowned upon to take a break and do nothing. But listen, this can be so healing and can be the ultimate way to thank yourself. Next time you find yourself with a few minutes with nothing to do, don’t go find something to do to fill that time. Embrace it and do nothing. Sit on the couch, watch a YouTube video, stare at the wall. All of these are great options for taking a break and filing your soul so you can keep the momentum going through the holiday season.
Spend time with loved ones
I know that most of my ideas for how to thank yourself this Thanksgiving have centered around doing things for you and only you. But perhaps the most powerful way to thank yourself is to spend time with your loved ones. Now, don’t just be in the same room with them physically and go through the motions. Be present. Be really present. Enjoy your kids. Take time to notice their joy. Focus on your parents, you might not have them for much longer. Whoever you’re spending Thanksgiving with, really focus on them. By nurturing your relationships, you nurture yourself. Don’t skimp on that!
Other posts
We are in the home stretch to Thanksgiving! If you need last minute Thanksgiving inspiration, check out these posts:
I really hope you take some time to thank yourself this Thanksgiving, friends. What are you planning to do to thank yourself this holiday season? Let us know down in the comments or over on Instagram @sarainseason!