Practice giving thanks every day

On Thursday, my family will practice a tradition I'm sure many other families practice, too. As we sit down together over turkey and stuffing and all the other fixings, after we say grace and as we dig into the bounty, each of us will tell the rest what we're grateful for this year. My list will be long. I am first and foremost grateful for my family, which is large and mostly close-knit, 15 of whom will encircle my Thanksgiving table, including my wife's 95-year-old grandmother. I am grateful that all of them will be with me, though I'll miss many other relatives who can't make it Up North. I thank God for my wife and son, in particular, because they provide me comfort when I'm unwell, support when I'm in need, and they celebrate my successes with me. I am grateful for my dogs, who bring me joy and comfort and protection. I am grateful for all the people I have known and loved throughout my life, even those who've wronged me, because they each have taught me in some way and helped make me who I am. I am grateful to live in a peaceful place that allows me to bring my family together without fear of violence or destruction. I am grateful to live in a free place where I can say grace before I dine without fear of persecution. I am grateful for my relative health and that of the people I love. I am grateful for my work, which fills me with purpose and serves my community and provides for my family. I am grateful for all my coworkers, who each give their all to the task of providing a quality newspaper day in and out and who support me as I support them. I thank God for the chances I have to serve my community in other ways, such as through the Rotary Club of Alpena and the Salvation Army of Alpena. I am grateful to live in a generous community that will drop money in the bucket when I ring bells for the Salvation Army this year. The list goes on and on — my house and everything in it, my car and my wife's car, my Christmas decorations, the coffee I drink by the gallon, the trip my family takes to Frankenmuth every year. I could never list all for which I am grateful. In my family, we list our thanks every time we say grace. We thank God for the specific things he provides us and we each day thank God for each other. We lay down our gratitude to the lord before we ask him for anything, because we know he has already provided us so much, no matter how he answers our latest prayer. It's important to practice thanksgiving every day, not just on the holiday, but that's not always easy. The Mayo Clinic says gratitude provides many health benefits, both mentally and physically. Feeling grateful — and especially expressing gratitude out loud — can improve sleep, mood, and your immune system while decreasing depression, anxiety, pain, and the risk of disease. That happens because working your brain into positive places releases the beneficial hormone oxytocin. We're not automatically wired that way, however. Rather, our brains are programmed to solve problems. Our brains tend to automatically fixate on what's wrong in our lives because our brains want to work out a way to remedy those wrongs. So it takes effort to feel grateful. We have to work at it. The Mayo Clinic suggests trying to think of someone for whom you're grateful as soon as you wake up. The clinic also suggests journaling your gratitude, writing down all the things for which you're thankful every day. And the clinic suggests expressing gratitude verbally to the folks for whom you're grateful, which benefits you and them. 'Tis the season of gratitude, but don't let it end there. Try to take the spirit of Thanksgiving and carry it with you the whole year. Make daily lists of the people places, and things in your life that bring you joy or comfort or security. For some folks all the time and for all folks sometimes, that exercise will be harder. It's difficult to express gratitude when life throws you challenge after challenge and heartbreak after heartbreak. But we can all be thankful for something all the time, even if for nothing more than the air in our lungs or the blood in our veins. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. Hinkley is publisher/editor of The Alpena (Michigan) News.