I Am Grateful for YOU!

Now is the perfect time to acknowledge all of you that follow along each week as I chronicle my passion for fashion and share my believe that no matter your age and no matter your size, you can always be cute and trendy! Some might think that my passion for fashion is frivolous or shallow. I prefer to think that my passion is an expression of who I am and have been since my first memories! I’m grateful to be able to express myself through my love of fashion with all of you who share a similar love! It always feels great to find your like minded people! YOU are my people!

Throughout this post, I’ve sprinkled some of my favorite fall looks and outfits that I think would be great to wear on Thanksgiving! This year anything goes and I suspect most might be reaching for comfortable leisure wear! What will you be wearing?

Happy Thanksgiving from Fashion Trends and Friends

Last year, FTF published a post with almost the exact same title. To read last year’s post, click HERE. Although this year has been potentially the most challenging of any year that we’ve ever lived through our entire lives, I still believe we have an abundance of things to be grateful for on a daily basis! The question becomes what do we give out attention to each day? There is so much research indicating that what we give our attention to is what we get more of so why not focus on all that is good?!

Practice Gratitude

While sheltering in place earlier this year, I completed an on line course through Yale University, which I blogged about here. (Psychology and the Good Life Yale’s beloved happiness class is now on the internet for free. Happiness, they say, is infectious. Perhaps that is why the most popular course ever to be taught at Yale University—this semester enrolling 1,200 students, or a quarter of the undergraduate student body—is one titled “Psychology and the Good Life.”). I was not surprised to learn that there is scientific research behind what really makes us happy and it’s not what usually comes to mind.

The behaviors scientifically linked to improved happiness include the following:

being kind

connecting with others

valuing time

meditating

getting more sleep and exercising

practice meditation and

GRATITUDE

The benefits of practicing gratitude are nearly endless. People who regularly practice gratitude by taking time to notice and reflect upon the things they’re thankful for experience more positive emotions, feel more alive, sleep better, express more compassion and kindness, and even have stronger immune systems. And gratitude doesn’t need to be reserved only for momentous occasions like Thanksgiving: sure, you might express gratitude after receiving a promotion at work, but you can also be thankful for something as simple as a fabulously fun outfit! 

Research by UC Davis psychologist Robert Emmons, author of Thanks!: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier, shows that simply keeping a gratitude journal—regularly writing brief reflections on moments for which we’re thankful—can significantly increase well-being and life satisfaction. Do you keep a gratitude journal? I should get better at doing this although I try to dedicate some time at the start and end of my day to reflect on my gratitudes and all that is good in my life! I had my special education students start every day with writing at least three things he/she was grateful for in their journals to set the day up positively!

My Top Five Gratitudes

When I read over what I listed as my top five gratitudes in last year’s post, this year’s list is exactly the same despite all of the challenges, ups and downs and crazy roller coaster ride that 2020 has been! What’s important to me hasn’t changed one bit! I’d even keep the list in the exact same order!

I choose to focus on my gratitudes every night. As I lay down to go to sleep, I recount all the things I’m grateful for that day before drifting off. I prefer to fall asleep thinking about all that is good!

Let’s Chat

FTF wishes you a very Happy Thanksgiving! May your hearts be filled and grateful today and all year long! Do you practice gratitude? What are you thankful for? Leave us a comment! We’d love to hear from you!

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