Gratitude is a practice I try to incorporate daily. I want to share with you one way to practice gratitude every day and not just on Thanksgiving Day.

This is adapted from Linda Graham’s work. Gratitude shifts the function of our brain out of negativity, reactivity to more openness, positivity. Gratitude shifts our perspective from our own lives to a more collective LIFE that we share together.

Next time you are at a dinner table with family and friends each person will share their rose, thorn, and bud of the day.  The rose stands for something positive, kind, beautiful, encouraging we’ve experienced. The thorn stands for something negative, harsh, unpleasant, discouraging we’ve experienced (and perhaps something we’ve learned from coping with it). The bud stands for our hopes for new life, new growth we hope to experience.

I encourage you to try the rose, thorn, bud of the day next time you share a meal with your people. And see if you experience a little more openness, lightness, a little more gratitude for the privilege of being alive, being here, being now.