Turbocharge Your Holiday - Blog #1

Hey, it’s Dale with Sage Creek. I ask our technicians dumb car questions so you don’t have to. We’re gonna shift gears (heh) for this one. 

I hate Thanksgiving, but I love gratitude. Hard pivot from the technician stuff, I know. Hear me out. 

I don’t groan over Thanksgiving for the travel, the weather, the relatives or the rush of it all. Frankly, those things are pretty good for me. One thing I’ve always had issue with this time of year was being grateful ONLY this time of year, like suddenly all the marketing from the stores and brands we trust shifts to gratitude and we’re supposed to jump on board and go for the ride until Christmas time. 

Nope. Gratitude isn’t just a nice platitude. It’s why our marketing won’t hinge on it this time of year. Instead, we hope you’ll join us for a bit of an experiment. 

We hear stories of individuals who do some great kindness, some service to the community. There are Food Banks in town that throw open their doors, hoping for donations to share with those in need. There are stories of “Secret Santas” whose stories warm the hearts, and even if by some measure we know who it is, we say nothing. 

Why? 

“Cuz we’re not monsters.” Great, thanks—fantastic answer. Let’s dig deeper. Why don’t we reveal the Secret Santas? Why do we feel compelled to act on behalf of those who are lacking this holiday, or any day of the year? 

I have seen some large degree of attitude adjustment that comes when a person practices gratitude in their life—the exercise of personally acknowledging, either outwardly or inwardly, what things they have in their life, and what that thing means to them. 

When gratitude is paired with meditation or prayer, three aspects of our individual and collective health begin to improve: mental, physical, societal and physical. 

Gratitude allows for an inventory of the things, opportunities, and relationships we value most. This kind of value isn’t in currency or stocks. It’s in the deep, intrinsic worth that can’t be adequately expressed aloud, or even especially in a blog like this.

Gratitude allows us to acknowledge how our bodies function, how they heal, how they move, twist, bend. Where the difficulty comes is where we compare to others, or even our ‘younger’ selves. But a true master of gratitude can lie in a hospital bed attached to a respirator and with a smile say “The flowers smell so good today! Isn’t it nice to smell?” 

When we are grateful for the things we have, the cars, the house, the kids, the relatives, the food, the bounty of it all, we might be tempted to treasure that unto ourselves, to bring it close and preserve it for a later day. That spirit of preparation may work for your benefit. But what good is having excess if there are those among us who are struggling? What worth is it for a successful businessman to see a grunt-level worker, to have achieved some great metric or goal, to see someone who works hard for his due, and does nothing to aid him up the ladder?

And if that principle is true in business, why couldn’t it be true with being kind?

The true value of societal gratitude is an acknowledgement of what we have, what we need , and what we can offer others in a spirit of compassion and love. It’s not a handout if you walk alongside someone in need for a time, seeing that they get their feet under them. And it doesn’t take a long, protracted plan or system. It takes a choice. A little choice. Right here. Right now. To make change in the lives of those around you. 

Sometimes we think of gratitude as the rose-colored glasses that make us lose touch with reality. Lacking means is one thing. Declining health is one thing. Even relationship management, family, friends , is one thing. But gratitude isn’t ignoring our challenges.  Gratitude is seeing the things, opportunities and relationships when have for what they are, and coming to the belief that we can act to change our circumstance, regardless of the current outlook. Gratitude is the first step to see that we do have the power to change our circumstance, to change our situation, to change our relationship, with neighbors, with family, with God, and whoever else we receive that deep, intrinsic value with. 

To you, the one reading this, I simply would like to add: I’m grateful for you. You add value to my life, without money, and without price. Thank you for doing your best. Thank you for lifting where you stand. If you feel you have not, or are not living up to that…

Well… there’s always today. Right now. 

Join us in the experiment to make gratitude the lynchpin of your morning routine. Find three, four, five things you’re grateful for. The next day, find five more. And so on. If you start today, November 18th, by the time the month is out you’ll have a list of things, opportunities and people 65 items strong.

Funny enough, that’s the same speed limit as some highways. 

Set your cruise control at 65 for Gratitude this year.  Let us know how it’s going on social media. Share pictures, comments, like—whatever to see how you and others are shifting your outlook.