COVID-19 epidemic may be coming to an end soon. Aftermath of economic effects, people who ignored medical care due to pandemic, and skyrocketing food and energy prices undoubtedly cause concern.

For Thanksgiving, how might you find your balance and be happy? Ahhh a revelation about six months ago dramatically shifted my perspective on happiness. Happiness can be defined in a simple four-step model, and it occurred to me.

Cherish the moment……….Develop a state of calm awareness………..Retain a sense of purpose………Focus on the positive aspects

Cherish the moment; A cheerful outlook is easier to maintain when you’re having fun. Focus your attention on a pleasant experience as it happens, absorbing it as it happens. Special occasions, such as a wedding or a vacation, have the potential to bring out the best in us.

On the other hand, ordinary joys can be overlooked unless they suddenly vanish or appear to be in danger.Focus on the task at hand. Whether it’s a meal or a visit with a friend, you’ll have a better time.

Spend time being grateful. Gratitude is the attitude of being grateful for all of life’s blessings, no matter how small they may seem at the time. It may be a good idea to keep a thankfulness diary to remind yourself of the things for which you are thankful on a regular basis. Doing so can help you appreciate your blessings more and take them less for granted as you go about your day. Be descriptive in your writing, and attempt to recapture the feelings you had as you recall the significance of each item.

Develop a state of calm awareness. Mindfulness is often learned through systematically focusing one’s attention on the here and now, and accepting whatever comes up. Savoring entails appreciating pleasant sensations, while mindfulness requires embracing both pleasant and painful sensations to the fullest degree. When you practice mindfulness, you are better able to fully immerse yourself in what you are doing and deal with stressful situations. One of the numerous benefits of practicing mindfulness is that it helps us become less distracted with self-doubt and anxiety about the future, and more open to developing meaningful relationships with those around them.

Retain a Sense of Purpose. A clear goal to work for should always be in mind. If a relationship breaks up, your children leave the house, or you lose a job or retire, it’s normal to feel a sense of loss and even despair. During difficult circumstances, it’s critical to maintain as much normalcy as possible while focusing on what you can manage. Maintain a regular sleep pattern, exercise regularly, eat a balanced diet, and keep in touch with loved ones. Consider a major life shift as a fresh opportunity or challenge, regardless of how difficult it may be.
Donate your time to organizations that can benefit from your professional expertise when you’re out of work or retired. Consider coaching or tutoring if you miss having children in your life. Supporting someone who are grieving can be therapeutic if you’ve just lost a parent or spouse. Maintaining an optimistic outlook will help you withstand the storm.

Focus on the positive aspects.
Resilience, the ability to bounce back from adversity, can be learned by focusing on the positive components of a situation and weeding out the negative ones. Older people, on the other hand, appear to be happier with their life as they get older, despite the losses that accumulate with time. Most likely, this is due to their proclivity for downplaying the negative, for accepting their own limitations and finding ways to work around them, and for setting realistic goals for the future. In order to have a positive impact on your life, you should start using these habits as soon as possible in your life—all of which help to maintain a cheerful mindset.

An old proverb goes like this: “Where your concentration goes, so does your power.” Creating an ideal future for yourself, and you will be able to choose which inputs make their way into your brain’s higher-level thinking regions.

I leave you with a method to break the cycle of negativity is to cultivate an attitude of thankfulness. Mounting evidence from medical studies has indicated that people who think positively have a lower risk of dying of all causes compared with others their own age who have a gloomier view of life. Over the last decade, researchers have identified practices that can help you achieve and sustain a positive attitude toward your future. I’m witness to this. This year I experienced a life threatening condition, not long to live. With God’s blessing, our Church ministries, and the Sphere of friends and family in my 55 an older community, wrapped their energy around me and I’m living proof this philosophy works.

Wishing you a very positive and blessed Thanksgiving.