With Thanksgiving coming up, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by family commitments, travel, and shopping. In addition to that, those of us who work in healthcare enter a very busy time of the year: many patients get their elective surgeries and procedures prior to the new year in order to exhaust their deductibles, making for busy long days in the OR. Also, with the changing of the season, the risk of acute illness increases, and chronic illness may worsen.
It goes without saying that we need to take care of ourselves physically in order to avoid getting sick this winter (adequate sleep, nutrition, hand-washing, etc.), but a really easy and stress-relieving way to foster the spirit of the season is to record your gratitude. Those of us who enjoy the physical art of writing might jot down notes of gratitude in a small journal. For me, writing ideas in a journal is therapeutic in itself! Check out more details about gratitude in one of my favorite no-nonsense stress management blogs.
Another option is to download a Gratitude App such as this one from HappyTapper. If you are facile with your Iphone or other digital device, this can be a super-easy way to accomplish the act of recording gratitude. Happy Thanksgiving!
We Are All Snowflakes