This week many of our families come together to celebrate family and to over-eat. 🙂 We pause for a brief moment to be grateful for what is and what will be.   

Regardless of where you are in your life and what is happening to you, you have much for which to be grateful. I know some are going through pain and suffering and I never want to make light of these real tragedies and challenges. But if you are reading this, you have been given so many opportunities and chances to succeed. Not all of them have gone your way. But you are alive to fight another day. People have helped you, supported you, and loved you for all of your wonders and warts.

The research on gratitude and thankfulness is so intuitive and compelling. People who express their gratitude to themselves and others are so much better off.

One of the most powerful and gratifying networking processes is to reach out and thank people from your past and your present. Connect with people you see everyday and others you have lost touch with to express your gratitude for their assistance in shaping your life. The key to do this is not mixing a thank you message with any requests or personal needs. Never thank to get. Nothing more fulfilling and personally beneficial of imparting a pure and sincere expression of thanks.

Think about your blessings this year, even amongst your hardships. Things that you feel fortunate to have and to have experienced. Write down three of them.

Here's the advice I gave a couple of years ago that can drive your gratitude networking:

1. Think of people who continue to be there for you and have provided you with support, moral and financial. People whose friendship, love and care make a difference in your life. Write down their names. Tell these people what they mean to you. 
2. Think of people in your life whose lessons and teachings continue to make a difference in your life today. People who mentored you. These may be folks you have not contacted for years, but every so often you think about them . Write down three of their names.  Reach out to them, make a call, e-mail them and express your gratitude.
3. Think about the things you have accomplished so far this year. Things you know made a difference in your life and in the life of others. Things that may not have been recognized or earned you distinction, but in your heart these things mattered. Write down three.  Remember what you do is important and valuable. Read them and appreciate your gifts. Gratitude for who you are and what you have done keeps you balanced with the other side of you ledger.

Connect and re-connect with people you care about and pass a plate of thank yous down the line. Gratitude is one of those gifts that nourishes us all. 

Regardless of your circumstances, you have much for which to be thankful. We take so much for granted and often we let our appetite for more numb our taste buds for the present.

So enjoy your time with family, indulge in the holidays, and strengthen your network past and present with a heaping serving of thank yous.

Thanks for reading. John