Mariana  00:01  

Welcome to Mindfully Recharged with Mariana Thomas. In this podcast, Mariana brings you mindful conversations in people that will develop and recharge you from the inside out, so that you can increase productivity in your personal and professional life. This is Mindfully Recharged.

Mariana  00:21  

Welcome, everyone. This is going to be a short and sweet message about gratitude. This is Thanksgiving week. And I have been thinking about a friend who called me the other day, saying that she was dealing with some loss. She told me the story about losing the job that she was doing for a short period of time. Just well, her son was in a school. And also she was having some issues with some friends about how they're not inviting her to go on a trip. And I was thinking, “Gosh! I wish she was more grateful about the things that she has at the moment than the things that she doesn't have.”. At the same time, I understand that it’s really, really hard to notice your job when you are doing something that you are having fun with. It wasn't in like corporate jobs, which is  just doing this, you know, to do something and also when you feel betrayed from your friends. That is pretty sad. So I was thinking about gratitude at that moment. I sent her a message and I say, “The universe sometimes sends us any direction to redirect our life, even when we are not asking for it.”.  Then I wrote, “This is a moment to go within versus the moment to go without.”, and I even shocked myself with those. I was a little inspired by this story that she told me. And she replied, “Wow, that's very insightful.”. 

Mariana  02:36

So friends, yes. What I want to say today, what I'm trying to say is that sometimes we focus on the things that we don't have, but we need to be grateful and thankful for the things that we do have at this moment, for the things that we can enjoy right here right now, and for the things that we don't even have yet, but we know they are going to come our way.

Mariana  03:05

So in this episode, I want to give you a few things on how to get yourself a little more creative when it comes to giving thanks, when it comes to gratitude. This is Thanksgiving week, friends. Today is Thanksgiving Day, when you will be listening to this episode. Hopefully, on Thanksgiving Day when it releases, it’s releasing today. If you are listening on a Thursday, or whenever you're listening later, I want you to remember how to be more creative when giving thanks. There is nothing more satisfying than feeling grateful for what we have in our life. Sometimes it is hard to come out with something truly original and heartfelt, right? To be grateful for.  So whether you are on their receiving end of a gift or trying to make someone feel better, you know, after a difficult time, like my friend is going through, you know, coming out with new ideas on how to express your thankfulness can be incredibly challenging sometimes. When I received that message from my friend, I was thinking, “What do I say? How do I make her feel better at this moment? What does she need from me?”.  So I took a moment to reflect. I took a moment to pause and to think about what I needed to say to her in order to make her feel like I was grateful for her to share this story, but also that I was grateful for her and that she was important to me. If she felt like she was not important to other people, she definitely was to me. So that's why I took my time before I wrote that and she replied, “How insightful was that?” I reflected before I wrote something. So did you know that creativity has many benefits? You know, I wanted to get creative with that message. I wanted to write things that not only make her believe about herself and being a good person, because she was feeling down about herself, but also, I wanted to make her think beyond that. I wanted her to go within than without. 

Mariana  06:06

So being creative in showing gratitude can help us to keep emotions in a positive way and especially, to keep relationships strong. So in the hustle of life, you know, I really do not like that word, hustle but we are all in a rush and we’re all trying to get things done. We are all trying to climb somewhere. I see this a lot. I just wish that everybody would just take it easy and slow down a little. It is easy to forget those who had been there for you sometimes. So what I'm saying is that she was more focused about those that were leaving than doors that are there right now for her. So whether it will be a friend, or a family member, or a significant other, everyone deserves recognition for their support. So I want to tell you that not to worry, because I got your friends and it’s so easy to get creative. 

Mariana  07:31

So this podcast episode is going to help you find a perfect way to thank that special someone for their thoughtfulness and their kindness towards you. So when people do nice things for us, we want them to know just how thankful we are and there is no better way than by saying it out loud.

Okay, by saying so, out loud. Unfortunately, not everyone has the creativity necessary when it comes down to delivering the message with efficiency, okay, or being efficient as when you deliver the message. So thankfully, however, there are three steps to be more creative in this way. This is the three steps that I created and it’s very easy. You guys, it’s like a piece of cake. Nothing to worry. Nothing to like, “Oh my God! I need to think about how to get creative.”. It's so silly, the way we can make others feel important and feel like they are the best thing in the world. 

Mariana 09:02

So the first thing, is to start by thanking someone who is not related to your life. Okay, so I think about the mail person, right? He’s not really a friend or family member, but as someone that even though it's not related, is still part of my life. So I'm thankful for this person that brings my mail every single day. I’m thankful for the person that picks up my garbage every single day. And guess what? You have to let them know. If he you see him, say, “Thank you. Thank you for what you do every single day.”, “Thank you for coming to my house to let my mail in every single day.” That is a way of getting creative of giving gratitude or giving thankfulness. Okay? The second thing is, thank them with unexpected gift or gesture. That is what I just said, right? So choose someone that is random, maybe, and then surprise them. Surprise them. So have you ever bought a gift for your mail person, the person that brings the mail every single day to you or the person that picks up the garbage for you every week? Have you ever done a Christmas gift for? Yeah, or a friend that you haven't seen in a while or a neighbor? Pick someone that you can do this for. Then, follow up with a hand writing, a  handwritten note. You know I am I am not so good at doing this part. At the handwriting thing I have to confess to be honest here, but other people have done it with me and I just always feel like that was such a great and beautiful thing to do. I feel so grateful, but I never thought of doing it myself. I always like to say things like, communicate with a person, let them know, but I'm very bad at writing a letter or a note. So when I wrote this, I was like, Yeah, I need to include this one because it's something that I need to work on myself. So I'm talking to the choir here. Okay? So this is not just for you, but for me as well. So I said friends, three things. Start by thanking someone who is not related to you. Thank them with that expected gift. Thank them with an unexpected gift. Thank you! Here it is, use this holiday to do so this is the perfect time to do that and then follow up with a handwritten note. Okay? Something that you I'm inspired to say. I don't know what that can be, but it's something that that person does for you, or do for you, that makes you feel grateful. So, write it down. 

Mariana 12:56

That's it friends! This is a short episode about gratitude. The other thing that I wanted to say is, start your day with gratitude. That's something that I do after I dropped into my breath. I’ll probably do an episode on on breath work. Maybe morning routine. I don't know. Gratitude is the second thing that I do right away. So hopefully, you are going to practice these three things, which is a different creative way of doing gratitude. And then, you can choose five things you are grateful for. Just five random things. It doesn't have to be a particular person. Okay? Just anything, anything that you're grateful for. So, I hope that you're listening to this episode. You do that exercise right now and you add that to your To-Do list, every single day. Okay, so I hope you’ve enjoyed this short episode and that it inspired you to take a moment to appreciate how lucky you are. There's nothing more fulfilling than feeling grateful for what we have in our lives. So no matter what your circumstances may be right now, please remember that there is always something to be thankful for. This is something I want you to remember. So if this message resonated with you today, then don't forget to share the podcast and download your free Mindful and Energetic Living Guide. Okay, guys, friends, I hope that you have an awesome rest of the week ahead. Have a fantastic day. And I'm very thankful and grateful for you. Have a great day. I will see you on the next episode. Bye bye friends. 

Mariana  15:19

Thank you for listening, everyone. Don't forget to go to the show notes and click to download your FREE Mindful and Energetic Living Guide. Also, don't forget to share this podcast with your friends, your families, and everyone up there. I want to get this out there to everyone. So thank you for your support and I'll see you next week.