What’s In Your Basket This Year?

An Exercise In Gratitude

At a recent chapter meeting of the International Coach Federation (ICF), a professional association to which I belong, we conducted a networking exercise to get to know each other better.  In rotating groups of two, each of us took turns sharing the following with a partner: 1) something we are very grateful for this year and 2) a dream we have.  The partner was instructed to “just listen” without commenting, to fully receive what the other was saying.

I noticed that saying what I was grateful for out loud to another person resulted in my actually feeling the feeling of gratitude more profoundly.  When it was my turn to listen silently, I witnessed the same deeply felt gratitude of my partner.  As I moved around the room and changed partners, the feeling of gratitude celebrated became even more palpable.

What’s In Your Basket This Year?

It was just a few weeks before Thanksgiving last year when my husband and I made our big move from the Northeast (Rocky Hill, Connecticut) to the Southwest (Scottsdale, Arizona).  This transition year has been filled with discoveries, challenges, milestones, breakthroughs, and a keen awareness of all that is present in our lives for which I am grateful.  I even appreciate the bumps and frustrations as they, too, are yielding fruit.  I am grateful for my health which called for and received attention this year.  I am grateful for family and friends who came out to visit us and share this new stage in our lives.  I am grateful for my GPS ―I’ve named it Marge!― which gets me where I need to be. (What can I say…I’m an expert in providing life direction, not geographical direction!)

Conjure the image of a basket, as you contemplate what blessings have filled you up this year and what dreams you hold.

What is in your basket?

Say It Out Loud

This Thanksgiving, try the above Exercise In Gratitude with your loved ones.  Ask them: “What are you most grateful for this year?” and then, honor them by simply listening.  Share your sincere answer to the same question.

Have the courage to pose this question as you gather around the table this week.  Sure you might get some comedic responses, and, you have to know your crowd but do share this with some loved ones and I guarantee the gratitude you already feel will resound and multiply.

Happy Thanksgiving, and we share our gratitude with our readers outside the U.S. as well.

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when
our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”
– Thornton Wilder