‘Tis the time of year to feel gratitude and express it. Or so they say.

“But,” you counter, “With all the horrible things happening in the nation and around the world, and political conflicts in my family, the pressure of finding the right gift for Uncle Charlie, and telling grandma we’d prefer she not overcook another turkey, how could I possibly feel grateful?”

One answer comes from Gregg Krech, head of the ToDo Institute, an organization that focuses on “mental wellness and Japanese psychology.” Its newsletter is titled 30,000 Days (representing a lifespan of 82.19 years) and offers thoughts and examples of how best to live those days.

I, too, have moments of questioning the whole idea of gratitude every time I read a half dozen articles on the mess this country is in. Many days the news is just plain depressing. But Krech would probably say that one doesn’t look to the news to improve a mood. Rather, feelings of gratitude come from self-reflection, which can lead to changing our mindsets.

Every year around this time, ToDo offers a four-week, on-line program, “Gratitude, Grace, and A Month of Self-Reflection.” I signed up for this knowing I already had too many commitments, but thought I’d try to squeeze it in anyway.

Nearly every day, the agenda contains a recommended exercise, many of which I haven’t yet had time to do, but they’re waiting for me when the busyiness of this month slows down. 

Mostly, the assignments ask you to think hard about your actions and attitudes, an exercise that often points to our generally not paying attention or recognizing all the elements of the supportive world that surrounds us.

When we consider our lives, what we’ve done and are doing, we take much for granted, starting with all the people who’ve come into our lives outside our families and provided help, for example, a first grade teacher, a favorite boss, a helpful neighbor, a friend.

The next task is to think about objects that truly have a positive impact on our physical and emotional well-being. We encounter hundreds daily, but the exercise was to name only ten items we take for granted, such as a toothbrush, toaster, scissors, eyeglasses. We then moved to less visible factors that make our lives easy and healthy such as plumbing, electricity, fresh air, and water.

And these are just the first activities. Later ones require deeper thought such as one about a past accomplishment. This and other exercises call on you to recognize all the support you’ve been given but not necessarily acknowledged, while you also admit that you might have hurt, or at least inconvenienced, someone else along the way.

Despite my slowness in completing assignments, I think the program is starting to work, not every minute, not even every day, but every few days something strikes me as an opening of a door to recognizing a hidden blessing and feeling grateful.

Through this program, change comes down to spending time in self-reflection and discovering a different world than the one you thought you knew.