Boost Your Attitude with the Magic of Gratitude

Posted On 26 November 2020

Last updated on April 10th, 2024

It’s hard to believe that American Thanksgiving is here again. While Thanksgiving traditionally marks the start of the holiday season, this year is different. To allow for social distancing, Black Friday sales have been happening for weeks already. Public health officials hope that Americans can learn from Canada about how family celebrations can increase the spread of COVID. You can read more about that in this Time article.

People are encouraged to not get together for this holiday, or if they do get together, wear masks. We have the choice of how we react to this – we can either get upset about it, or we can make the most of it.

At Canoosa Finance we choose to make the best of it. Since we are both American and Canadian, we have two Thanksgivings every year! This year our Canadian Thanksgiving was small, and we are not even having a turkey dinner for American Thanksgiving. That does not mean that we can’t still #GiveThanks.

2020 has been an interesting year! A lot of things have changed this year. I would like to share some of the things we can all be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Adversity makes us Stronger

I wrote a post about how adversity makes us stronger. Adversity is never enjoyable at the time. As we struggle through that adversity and learn and grow from it, we can give thanks that we had that challenge in our lives.

After surviving adversity we can then encourage others who are going through rough times. Since we have been there and done that, we can offer hope to others.

We still have our skills

The unemployment numbers this year have been crazy! Even with those crazy numbers, the governments in both Canada and the United States stepped up and assisted people with receiving unemployment money. Some people were receiving more money to stay at home than they were at their job! Additional money is something for which we can give thanks.

Now, even for those who are not working, you still have your skills. When the economy opens back up, if there are not any jobs available doing what you were doing, you can adapt your skills to the new position.

We have the Internet

I am so grateful that we have the Internet! We can shop online and avoid the store or get curb-side pickup. So many fast-food restaurants have mobile apps where we can order and pay on our phone, then all we have to do is pick up our food at the drive-thru window.

With the Internet, we are able to stay in touch with friends and family. This Thanksgiving we can visit online with family – even if we are not able to share turkey with them! Movies can streamed to our TVs and we can learn things on YouTube. We can even bank without going to the bank. Just imagine what this pandemic would be like without the Internet!

New Skills Learned

The pandemic has also forced us to learn new skills. Take Zoom for instance. People this year have had a crash course in online video calling. It’s a way that meetings can be held for church or work while the participants are at their homes. Kids can also attend school from home.

Some people have also taken the time that they had this year to learn a new skill or brush up on a skill that had been set on the back burner. The people who have learned a new skill or adapted their skill and started business or a side-hustle during this pandemic can gives thanks for the opportunity the pandemic gave them.

Work From Home

The big work from home phenomenon has changed the landscape of the office environment. Employees are now able to relocate to rural areas (as long as there is an Internet connection!). No longer are these workers required to pay for expensive places to live. (Thanks!) Also, the commuting time has been eliminated. (Thanks, again!)

Working from home can also be a challenge. Especially if we have kids at home that need to be supervised while we are doing our own work. On a positive note, we do get to see more of what our kids are learning in school.

Along with working from home more people see the value in having a side hustle, or another source of income. We have learned to look at work and job security differently.

This too Shall Pass

With all the challenges that this year has presented us, there is a phrase that gives me hope: This too, shall pass. It will! Will we have a new normal once the pandemic is over? I think so. The stresses and scars that have been inflicted on people and the economy will remain. But like scars on the human body, they will heal.

As I’ve heard, “Tough times never last; tough people do.” We will pull through this together and when we recover, we will be stronger for the experience. Let’s take the spirit of Thanksgiving and live our lives with an attitude of gratitude.