Dawn's November 2021: Giving Thanks!
November is about Giving Thanks!
This is the month we all share family gatherings and make lifetime memories. That COVID-19 Delta strain seems to be steering us once again into the unknown. They are suggesting that people keep their circle small and to be cautious of its presence. So how do we give thanks in these trying times, we ask ourselves? Let us look at ways we can give thanks for the good things that we have in our lives.
G - Give thanks to the beauty in the world around us. Sometimes we forget to just look out the window and focus on the beauty the outdoors holds. Get out and take a walk in the coolness of fall. The smells are amazing this time of year. It signals that old man winter is coming soon.
I - Inspiration comes from within ourselves. Take a moment to think what you can do to feel inspired, motivated to think of positive things in your life. Share your joy and positive outlook with family or a friend. We all look for inspiration to become a greater version of ourselves.
V - Visit someone, either in person if it is safe, or by phone. With the advent of Zoom and other technology based visual devices you can be in each other’s living rooms no matter where you live! Facebook Portal and Amazon Echo are a couple of options. These are great for grandparents who live far away to stay visually in touch with their grandchildren.
E - Eat! The holidays always bring on my desire to bake and cook comfort food. What is your favorite recipe? Feel free to email me and we can share them in another blog. The smell of anything baked surely reminds me the holidays are not far away. What is your family’s traditional Thanksgiving Day meal? I know families that roast turkeys and some that bake chicken or lasagna! All I know is good food, cooked together with family, is a recipe for love.
T - Take nothing in life for granted. Tomorrow is never promised. During these stressful times, instead of letting opinions on all that is happening in our world divide us we need to take a media break even once a week to spend time with our families. Talk, play a board game around the family dining table, just spend one evening a week at least where electronics are stored away. Decorate a box, place it in a special spot to put your cell phones in for the evening. Eat dinner together with no technology at the table for the entire meal. You can talk about your day, a book you read, a song you like on the radio. The important thing is to just talk and reconnect.
H - Help someone or volunteer to help a place in need. The food pantries have an overwhelming need for volunteers to pack boxes. Volunteer at a church, or the humane society to be a foster friend where you visit and walk a dog for the afternoon. While we might feel the drive to help others all year round, time sometimes gets away from us and it never happens. There are so many places just looking or help. Reach a hand out to someone and I am sure you will brighten his or her day. I saw this great idea where you get a gallon zip lock bag and fill it with dollar store items, toothbrushes and tooth paste, nutrition bars, soap bar, socks, wash cloth, deodorant and a bottle of water. These can be given to homeless shelters to be handed out. Store a few of these care packages in your car, so if you see someone in need you can hand them out to men, women or children.
Click here for Catholic Charities!
Click here for Women's Services!
A - Appreciation, a simple word that means so much. When someone feels appreciated, he or she is more productive and enthusiastic about his or her job. Show someone your appreciation at home; thank someone for doing that little something special to make your day just a little easier. I think it is easy in this world today, to forget that appreciation is one of the simplest gestures we can show, yet can have a huge impact. We spend 8 hours or more a day at our jobs, laughter and random kind gestures could be a part of that time. Tomorrow let someone know you truly appreciate him or her for some special thing they do, even if it is just a smile.
N - Nurture is the process of caring for and encouraging the growth or development of someone or something. When is the last time you reached out and nurtured something or someone in your life? I feel blessed to be able to nurture my grandchildren every weekend. We need to take time and nurture the ones in our lives and show them how to be caring individuals. Now let us talk nurturing the houseplants that I adopted! They are a total work in progress, but I must be doing something right as they are still alive and flourishing.
K- Kindness. I speak of this a lot in my blogs because it truly is the simplest act we can show. Kindness costs us nothing. I feel mindfullness goes along with this. Because we can have a tendency to feel overwhelmed by the stresses of our workplace and our world, we can forget how easy it is to extend kindness to someone. The holidays should not be the only time we do this. If all of us, everyday, just did one act of random kindness what a beautiful world we would live in.
S - Spirit. Find what touches your spirit and gives you positive energy and hold on to it. Giving thanks this holiday season is one of the best gifts you can give and share. Giving thanks and feeling grateful for the goodness in your life is something we all need to do. I learned early in life that no matter what life throws at us, it is how you catch it, and what you decide you want to do with it is what truly matters. I say, batter up! and let us load those bases of life with good things.
May your Thanksgiving be blessed, and please check on a family member, neighbor or friend to see if they need anything. Sometimes just the “Ask,” alone is all they need. Have a truly blessed holiday!
These tips are informed suggestions. If you do not feel comfortable with them, please do not attempt them. Instead as always contact your medical professional or your prosthetist for help and advice.
If you have a question for me about living as an amputee, ask! And if I don’t know the answer, I will find it for you, and I will leave no stone unturned to help you find your own personal new normal. If there is a topic you would like me to feature please let me know! I want us all to grow strong together. Email me at Dawn@dankmeyer.com. This email is not secure, so if you wish to keep any specific health information private, you should call Dankmeyer!
Dawn Miranda joined Dankmeyer, Inc. over two years ago as a Prosthetist Assistant after relocating from San Antonio, TX. Dawn recently left Dankmeyer to return to nursing, but still lives in the area, and continues with us as a guest blogger.