“What if I just don’t have any blessings to count this holiday season?”
Thanksgiving and the holiday season that follows represents an opportunity to count our blessings and have an attitude of gratitude. But for people experiencing difficult life circumstances and symptoms of depression, this can be a challenge.
A patient once told me that while he knew he should be grateful for his job, a nice home and family close by, there were times that he just didn’t feel it.
He went on to say that the hardest thing about the holiday season was the guilt he experienced. He knew he should count his blessings. Because he could not, he felt like he was a terrible person. In essence, he was taking a very judgmental stance towards himself.
He was judging himself for having symptoms of depression.
So how do you count your blessings and get through the holiday season when you’re not feeling very thankful? Practice mindfulness.
- Instead beating yourself up for a lack of gratitude, put your attention on what is happening in the moment.
- Use your senses to just notice what you see and hear in the moment.
- When you catch yourself worrying about the future and overthinking the past, bring your attention back to the moment.
Through mindfulness, you take your attention off judgmental thinking and put it on the only thing you really have to think about.
Just this moment!
