Five Tips to Find, Feel, and Express Gratitude This Holiday Season & Beyond

NEW YORK - Nov. 1, 2018 - PRLog -- What is called the Gratitude Season in the United States begins today, and being thankful is as important as holiday shopping. So how can you feel grateful when life deals you a bad hand? Kate Harvie (http://KateHarvie.com), survivor of a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and author of Believe It and Behave It: How to Restart, Reset, and Reframe Your Life, states, "When you can control, change, and fix very few things, what you can always do is express gratitude. It costs nothing, it's easy, and it allows each person to feel what they do and be who they are. When I lived on my own after nearly seven months of hospitalization and recovery, things felt dark, and unclear. To combat, and eventually shift, that I chose to begin every day by saying 'Thank you,' because I woke up. Traffic noise, the sunrise, seeing postal carriers deliver mail, scrambling to get to the subway, learning that honey was a great way to sweeten coffee: all of these were mine to experience. Each experience felt like a gift. And because I had survived an injury that was initially thought to have killed me, it was."

For years, the medical community – including respected researcher Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman and Dr. Robert Emmons , the world's leading expert on gratitude – has researched and expressed how feeling grateful improves our health. That's all well and good when you have things about which to feel grateful.

The truth is, we are always fine, because there are things in life that help us feel happy every day, in various ways. "For the time we are in the world, everything we do, see, feel, hear, and taste is a present, a blessing. And, all of these things, the ones that are truly important to us, help us to live better, as much as and as often things can be difficult," states Kate.

Read Kate's expertise on self-confidence on UpJourney (https://upjourney.com/why-is-self-confidence-important), hear about Kate's perspective on gratitude as fuel in her interview with Elayne Fluker on her podcast, Support is Sexy (http://elaynefluker.com/podcast/kate-harvie/), Kate is scheduled to be Sirius XM's popular Karen Hunter Show on December 6 (https://karenhuntershow.com/), and meet Kate at upcoming events on November 8 (Sip This, 64 Rockaway Ave., Valley Stream, NY 11580) and December 12 (Shakespeare & Co., 1632 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19103).

5 Tips to Find, Feel, and Express Gratitude, Especially When Times are Tough by Kate Harvie:

1)     Turns out we were really smart when we were children: things are good. Adults tend to complicate things because we are responsible for so much and so many. Remind yourself how remarkable the autumn leaves, the smell of cookies baking, and the sound of wonderful news are.

2)     What you write about, you can read about: pen to paper is a useful tool. Besides the brain remembering better what is written than what is typed, when we write down memories, feelings, and experiences we help to imprint them in our minds. Reviewing these pages when things are lousy helps us to reset. We also can extract negative thoughts, like a splinter from our index finger.

3)     What we have right now is enough; anything more is icing on the cake. When you focus on what's happening and what you have in this moment, you become conscious of how good that is, as it is. Obviously a good job becomes even better with a title change, and the promotion feels like a real gift: not only was it earned, it enhances something that was already positive.

4)     "Your presence is your present" is not exclusive to birthday parties. One of the best, and easiest, ways to feel good about life is spending time with friends and loved ones. You don't have to spend money or do anything "important." Sharing simple things with people who care about you is valuable and awakens the sometimes sleeping dog that is appreciation.

5)     "What you think about is what you bring about:" focus on what is good, in the current moment. This oft-mentioned statement is especially true when we're working towards goals or recovering from trauma. Put it out there. There's no harm in stating, feeling, and thinking what you want. Go further by visualizing, speaking, and acting these dreams into fruition.

To learn more about Believe It and Behave It and Kate Harvie, visit her website, http://kateharvie.com/book. To schedule an interview, contact Karen Taylor-Bass, TaylorMade Media, 917-509-3061.