A Reflection on Gratitude
This year, I’ve been struggling with finding the words for my gratitude message to all of you. I’ve procrastinated. I’ve stumbled, and I’ve given up. This isn’t like me, so I had to do some soul searching to sort out the barriers to getting this done. I realized that with all that is going on in the world around me, the divisiveness and seeming lack of kindness to each other, I had lost touch with my own sense of gratitude for the many wonderful aspects of my world. What a shame, because I am lucky in my life and in my work. I get to be surrounded every day by people who give back, who care about the well-being of others. My work is a safe place, filled with hope, acceptance, and compassion. How lucky is that?
Grateful for Our Community
I am beyond grateful to each of you — my extended Guidance Center family — for caring about the children, families, and communities we serve. Your compassion and dedication remind me every day of the power of gratitude in action.
The Benefits of Giving Thanks
According to Harvard Medical School, “giving thanks can make you happier”. Gratitude is good for us. It is very strongly and consistently shown to “help people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity and build strong relationships”.
Finding gratitude is life-changing. Yet such a simple thing as being grateful can feel very hard to manage when times are challenging. As I am reminded today, gratitude is something we can cultivate regularly and in baby steps.
With Thanks for Our Collective Healing
In the name of healing, we at The Guidance Center are giving thanks this week and every week. We appreciate our staff, friends, and supporters for all they do for our agency and the clients and families we serve.
On a personal note, thank you for lifting my spirits. I am grateful to you all.
With sincere appreciation,
Patricia Costales, LCSW
Chief Executive Officer, The Guidance Center