Happy Thanksgiving 2025: The Power of Gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving! 

The most powerful gratitude isn’t the kind that trends on a holiday—it’s the kind that sits with you in chaos and changes what you notice next. 

We break down what gratitude really is: a lens that doesn’t deny pain but refuses to let pain own the whole story. 

You’ll leave with tools you can use today: three-specifics journaling, a hand-on-heart thank-you meditation, and a gratitude letter you may or may not send.

No perfectionism, just consistent reps until noticing the good becomes your default under pressure.

If this conversation helps you breathe a little easier and see a little clearer, share it with someone who could use a reset. Follow for more grounded practices, and leave a review to tell us which gratitude tool you’ll try first.

Chapters

• 0:00 Beyond Seasonal Gratitude
• 1:47 Defining Gratitude As A Lens
• 3:20 Science Behind Gratitude
• 5:41 Stories Of Shift: Sarah And Me
• 8:09 Practical Tools You Can Use Today
• 12:10 Gratitude In Relationships And Community
• 13:40 Discipline, Default Settings, Closing Practice

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

It's the Thanksgiving weekend, and while everyone is talking about gratitude, I want to talk about the kind that no one actually posts about. The kind that you feel it. Just the kind that hurts before it heals. And the kind that shows up in the middle of chaos and says, You still have something beautiful here. Because real gratitude, it's not seasonal, it's transformational. I hope you're surrounded by the smell of coffee, cozy sweaters, and maybe a little chaos in the kitchen. And somehow, in between all but noise, there's this quiet voice whispering. Remember what matters. And that's what we're diving into today. How to live from gratitude and not just talk about it. Hello everybody, and welcome back to the Self-Help Podcast with Meetapadi. And today I want to invite you into a conversation that has the power to shift the way you see everything. Yeah, literally, quite literally. Let me ask you, what if I told you that a simple practice, a practice so simple that even a child can do it, could rewire your brain, deepen your relationships, heal your heart, and transform the trajectory of your life? Sounds silly. But would you lean into that? Would you please give it a chance? Yeah, that practice is called gratitude. Now, before you roll your eyes and think the Pali, oh ho ho, gratitude, bad fluffy, Pinterest bored inspirational quote, kind of saying, I want you to stay with me. So, what I'm going to be sharing with you is not love. Gratitude, when practiced deeply and consistently, is one of the most powerful mental, emotional, and even biological tools available to us as human beings. So, with the next few minutes, we are going to be doing something different. Not just talk about gratitude, but actually experience it, like live it. I'm going to guide you through reflections, science, and exercises. And the hope really is that you feel not only inspired but equipped with tools that you can begin to use today. In fact, right now, as you're listening. So take a deep breath with me. Inhale, gently exhale, and let this be your reset. Grab a notebook if you want to write, or just send some text notes, text message to yourself as notes, or just lean in with your full presence. Let's begin this journey into the power of gratitude. So, starting with what is gratitude, really? It isn't just saying thank you. Gratitude is a lens, it's a way of looking at the world. It's not denying hardships, it simply refuses to let hardship define the entire story. It is believing that things go wrong and life can be unfair at times, but one bad chapter isn't the end of your story, it's just the beginning. Now picture this. Imagine standing in a forest at dusk, the trees casted long dark shadows. If you all do is focus on the shadows, you'll miss the golden light still streaming between the branches. Now, gratitude is choosing to look for that light. Let me ask you: when was the last time you truly paused and acknowledged what do you have now? Not the next thing, not the promotion that you're waiting for, not the relationship you're chasing for, not the assets you're trying to build, not the kind of love that you're longing for, not your next milestone or your big career move, but the breath in your lungs, the roof over your head, your healthy, perfect, and beautiful body, and the fact that even in struggle you're still here, alive, and very hopefully chewing your tea. Science shows us that gratitude isn't high positivity. It's a strength practice. It's just like a strength training for your mind, for your soul. It shifts the nervous system out of stress mode and into the calm. It helps you sleep better, heal faster, and feel more connected. Here is a moment for you. Close your eyes if you can. I hope you're not driving while you're listening to this. If you are, then you don't matter. Think of one thing right now that you're grateful for. Let it be small if it needs to be. Hold it in your mind like a candle. Now notice how your body changes as you focus it. Could be anything, literally. Thinking of your family, or for me, just looking at the beautiful lamp next to me on the table. I feel like moody ambience and lighting makes everything so much better. Anyway, I digress. Now that's the kind of doorway we are walking through together. Now let's step into science because I believe understanding the why gives us the courage to keep showing for the how. Because if the why is strong enough, how will somehow almost always follow. Here's what happens when you practice gratitude: your brain releases dopamine and serotonin. The very same chemicals that antidepressants aim to increase. Gratitude is a natural antidepressant available to you 24-7. No prescription required, it's just about you tapping and feeling it. It also lowers cortisol, the stress hormone. That's why grateful people don't just feel karma. They are karma biologically. But here's what blows my mind. Gratitude revives the brain. In MRI's cats, people who practice gratitude regularly showed stronger activity in the prefrontal cortex. The area in your brain responsible for decision making, empathy, and planning? Gratitude literally makes you a better leader, a better partner, a better human. So let me ask you this: if gratitude can change your brain, how could it change your future? Think about it. How could it change the way you wake up tomorrow morning? Or the way you respond, or the way you deal with that difficult person at your work, or how you sit at the dinner table tonight, and how much joy and gratitude do you feel just for the fact that you live with your family and everyone is alive and with you and maybe enjoying a meal or your kid making the mess out of the house, it may exasperate you. But trust me, you live for those moments. Now let's bring all this to life with stories. Uh, a friend of mine, let's call her Sarah, went through a season of collapse. Health decline, job con, family strain, and we assumers don't deal very well with change, do we? Now she described it as living under a grey cloud. At her therapist's suggestion, she started outing she started writing down three things that she's grateful for every night. At first, she hated it. Like she hated the idea. She's like, I can't, in the midst of what I'm feeding, I can't just go pick up the pen and write things down. But with a lot of cajoling and pressures, she somehow gave in and she wrote things like I'm grateful for my bed, and I'm grateful I made it through today. I am grateful that I had to cush her, all of that basic stuff. And she kept doing it. Weeks turned into months, and something shifted. Her list grew longer. More specific, she started to notice beauty in small places. The way her morning coffee tasted, or just the divine first cup of tea, or the way, or the way some children came out of nowhere for drink and treat. The sound of rain, the smell of rain, the comfort of her throat, all of that. Does this mean that all the problems disappeared out of nowhere? No, definitely not. But her mindset shifted, and that shift gave her the resilience to face the storm without charming in it. And me. I remember a season when I was completely overwhelmed. New mother, a lot of career uncertainty, some health challenges, and I felt stretched. Gratitude journaling was the last thing I wanted to do. And I really honestly questioned a lot of things. But when I forced myself to pause and just listen down three things daily, like I hated the activity. I remember just feeling miserable while doing that. But day after day after day, I noticed something miraculous that the heaven is lifted little by little. Gratitude didn't remove the chaos, and it just gave me so much courage. It's about it something as if a switch happened. Like I just flipped. Now that's the power of perception, which gratitude changes. It doesn't change the fact, it changes how you see them. It changes it. So write down three specific things that you're grateful for tonight. The detail. Instead of I'm grateful for my partner, write specifics. I am grateful that my partner made me laugh and I was anxious today, or I'm grateful that I had his full attention, or he was all used to my problems. Even though I don't think he was able to solve them, that's okay. But at least he was there listening quietly, calmly. Specifics bring gratitude alive. Close your eyes. Place your hand on your heart. Picture one person who has touched your life. See that face. Could be your neighbor or your mom or your dad or your sibling or a great friend. Now imagine them smiling. Send them gratitude. Whisper a silent thank you. You could also do something like a gratitude letter. Think of someone who shaped you a teacher, a mentor, your parents, your friend. Write them a letter of gratitude. Even if you never send it, writing it will somehow unlock something within you that believe me, you didn't know about until now. When you face a challenge, ask, what is this teaching me? What strength am I building right now? Even in those moments, it may feel like this is all a shit show, and why are things, bad things happening to me? And how the hell am I supposed to be in this situation where I should be, you know, maybe working or playing with my kid or like making big moves in my life or giving presentations, and here I am, maybe somewhere that you don't think you belong, say in a difficult conversation or getting some blood work done. This is all human and this is all natural, and with life, it's bound to happen. It's not trying to erase your pain, it's about you asking yourself, what is it teaching me? What strength am I building right now? Maybe you don't see the good right now. Also, the fact is maybe you never see it in your life. But the person you're becoming at the end of this, once you weather this wrong, is what we're looking for. So gratitude is not trying to erase your pain, but it but it's trying to bring some balance. Here's the thought. What if you tried one of these every day for next month? So we talked about the gratitude journal, gratitude meditation. Remember keeping your hand on your heart and imagining the person saying, Massalin, thank you. Gratitude letter, no problem. It may not come up. You don't want to come across as cheesy, don't send it. Do not send an email, don't handwrite that letter, but at least feel it. You write it for yourself, don't send it, that's okay. And gratitude and adversity, which I believe is the most charming part. Now, what if you tried one of these every single day? Just one, like whichever's easy for you. Don't want to overburden you with any of this. Just whatever's easy for you for the next month, just one month. Or you know what if it even if that is taxing to just do it when you when you're reminded, when you think of it, when it occurs to you, anytime, any day, no pressure. If you do that, I promise you there will be something that shifts inside you. And what might shift around you and inside you will be noticeable when you do these consistently. If you're not being able to if you if you cannot do it consistently, at least be regular with this, and you see that the gratitude that you're building is contagious, it spreads into every nook and corner of your life, it spreads into every relationship you have. Now, think about this. When was the last time someone sincerely acknowledged you? Not just a casual terms, but a genuine hardware appreciation. Didn't it make you want to show up even more for them? It did that for you. Now imagine doing that for people you love. Gratitude once relationship into safe harbours, reduces conflict, increases empathy, and strengthens bond. Picture this. Families ending dinner by sharing one thing that they appreciate about each other. In beginning meetings with one gratitude, communities gathering not just to discuss problems but to celebrate blessings. Can you imagine the ripple effect? Oh my god, the world will be a better place. The truth is, gratitude is not a one-time choice, it's a practice, a discipline, a muscle. And like any muscle, remember, we refer to it as man training. Some days it feels easier to flex than others, and some days it will feel force. You will be like, I'm feeling like a mess in this situation, and the body don't even talk about gratitude. No, sorry, not now. That's okay. Gratitude is like the gym. Don't go once and say, I'm done for life. It's not like you brush five hours in a day and then you don't brush for the next fifty days. You show up every day like a ritual over and over and over until it becomes your second nature. Until you reach a point where you look at yourself in the mirror during a difficult situation or a crisis or going through something that's not the living error out of your life, and still think to yourself, there are a million things still working for me than not working for me. Let me ask you this question: what would your life look like if that you became your default setting? How much more love would you give? How much more love would you receive? How much more peace and happiness would you feel? And as we close this, I want you to pause with me. You could eat so breath. Quietly think about three things that you're grateful for. And as I speak into the microphone, I look at my laptop, I'm also thinking about it. So you think about it and you whisper them out loud if you can feel them expand inside of you. Because gratitude is not just a practice, it's a revolution. A revolution of the mind, your heart, your soul, and it changes your perspective perspective. It transforms God's scarcity into abundance, fear into courage, disconnection into love, and heart into healing. Thank you so much for joining me on the journey today. I hope you live not only inspired but transformed. Gratitude become your compass, your ankle, and your ever shining light. And until next time, keep noticing the good, keep opening your heart, keep expanding it. And remember, gratitude doesn't change how you see the word. It changes the word that you see. Until next time, see you in the back.