When I was first diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, my doctor put my mom in touch with another parent of a boy who was suffering from IBD. This woman spent a long time talking to my mom about the details of the illness and what she could expect both for her and for me as the patient. One of the things this woman said to my mom that my mom still carries with her to this day is that you have to find something to be grateful for each day. It doesn’t matter how big or small, it just has to be something because that one thing often turns into others and before you know it you are thankful for eight different things.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and as we all know, it is a day to be thankful for all of the good fortune that we have. While some of us may be dealing with difficult circumstances this holiday season, it is important to try and think of at least one thing that we are grateful for. It can be something as simple as being grateful that our favorite shampoo went on sale. Little things like that can actually {pardon the cliché} turn a frown upside down. Lets look at that example for a minute. So, say you are grateful that your favorite shampoo is now on sale. Now maybe you have a little extra money to buy the conditioner as well. So you go home and can now take a nice, relaxing hot shower with your preferred shampoo and conditioner. You get out of the shower and your hair looks better than it has since it now has the product you like in it. You then look in the mirror and think “Damn! I look good!” Now your confidence level is a bit higher. You go to put on clothes and you pick out something that is NOT sweatpants and a hoody. Wow, now you are fully dressed and your hair looks fantastic. Why not add some make up? Look at you now! See where I am going with this?

On a more serious note, every day we should all try to find one thing that you are grateful for. It can be something monumental or something seemingly meaningless. Think about the blessings in your life even when your world seems like it is crumbling down. When things seem like nothing is going right, find one thing that is and go from there. Focus on that one thing that brings you happiness and positive thoughts. Over the course of those many dark, dark days in the hospital I kept thinking about my family and trying to picture my dogs’ faces. It then made me think of some of the funny things that have occurred which in turn made me laugh. I then started feeling thankful to have had those wonderful memories.

I know this is a difficult thing to ask of someone who is doing through an extremely dark time in his/her life. But tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day, try it.

For one day and one day only, think about ONE thing that you are grateful for….