Iman Cooper’s Post

Happy Sunday friends 📚 Sharing a quick read that may help get your week started off on the right foot! As you know, we are sharing what we are grateful for as well as tips, resources, and tools to help you in your gratitude practice. "Practicing Your Attitude of Gratitude" provides some practical ways that you can share your gratitude. Check it out and let us know what you can start using today! https://hubs.li/Q02YQyWY0 #Gratitude #Grateful #blog

Want to feel more gratitude in your life? T'is the season! Check out some tips to feel more grateful RIGHT NOW and beyond! (click and read full article in comments) You can’t talk about Thanksgiving without talking about gratitude.   However, you might have set up this holiday feeling burdened and pressured and maybe a bit resentful!   Here’s how to turn your frustration into gratitude!   Focus on what you can do, not what you can’t control.  When you can take action on something, you feel more powerful and less at its mercy.  And when you feel more powerful and confident, you feel less resentful. You can cook the turkey but you can’t control how your MIL will react to it.  So, make your focus cooking the turkey and NOT her comments! Then you get to focus on how you have food to cook and a kitchen to cook it in- things to be grateful for!  The rest, as they say, is gravy (LOL- Mom joke) Focus on what’s going well instead of what is not going well.  This is a cousin of focusing on what you can control.  You are learning to steer your attention to where you can be grateful.  This looks like “hey, I have my loved ones with me (versus but Uncle Fred is coming later!).  Or “My kids are doing OK right now” (versus- my SIL is giving me unwanted advice on how to improve their grades!”)  Or “I love that we have our home” (versus “I don’t want to get another lecture on ‘this generation’”.)  There’s a lot going on- focus on the improvement, the hopeful, the possible, the good enough, the amazing versus what bad is going to happen, who is pissing you off, or you can’t wait for this all to be over.   The best and most grateful moments are FULLY experienced in a state of presence.  We tend to gloss over moments because we focus on the future or we are dwelling on the past.  In other words, we don’t experience moments in the present and therefore, we lose the ability to be grateful for being ALIVE!  Think about the last time you were really having a good time.  What do you remember?  Were you distracted? Thinking about what was going to happen next OR were you just enjoying the moment?  Do more of enjoying the moment and watch how things feel and unfold.   Make a list and say out loud all the things you are grateful for.  Make a daily list.  At least five things.  Try to keep the list novel- new things each list.  It makes your mind focus on all the good stuff you are, have, and do! And have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Gratitude is a complicated concept - and I was glad, on the day before Thanksgiving here in the U.S., to come across this wonderful article discussing the nuances surrounding gratitude and similar concepts like thankfulness and appreciation. There was a time in my life, years ago, when I was really, REALLY not doing well. Fortunately, I asked for help and was connected to a group of wonderful folks who supported and encouraged me until I could and was doing better. Happily, I am still connected to several of these friends in an informal support group on another platform. One of the things these dear people suggested I do in order to start feeling better was to make a daily gratitude list. At first I railed against this - partially, I think, because for me the concept provoked a strong sense of shame: "You SHOULD be grateful!" I especially objected to the idea of having gratitude for anything other people might have done to make my life easier. For me, this implied a one-up, one-down relationship between me and others, with me on the bottom as the recipient of unearned benevolence. That did not sit well with me. I really loved these new friends, though, and I thought, "Oh, well - might as well try." So I started telling myself, on my daily drive to work, that I was grateful for traffic lights because they prevented accidents. From there the list grew. I was grateful for hot running water and toothpaste, for easy access to food at the grocery store. For a comfortable bed. For a house and a car. For a job. Slowly, it became okay for me to express gratitude to others for kindnesses extended to me, as I came to realize that I, too, was capable of showing kindness and providing needed assistance to others without an expectation of recognition or reward. And that started to feel good. As discussed in this article, some of what I then was placing under the broad umbrella of gratitude could probably be better described as thankfulness or appreciation, and those two words to this day resonate differently for me from the way gratitude does. For me, word and syntax geek that I am, that sort of distinction makes a difference. Perhaps for you it doesn't. And that's okay. As those of us who do celebrate the holiday prepare for our Thanksgiving festivities, I want to extend warm wishes that yours will be happy, healthy and meaningful - whether 'meaning' involves gratitude, thankfulness, appreciation or some other concept important to you. I'll see you on the other side!

It’s Thanksgiving week, and gratitude is what fuels me—so this week, I want to focus on just that, and take time to be with family. 𝐓𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬: Many of you have stayed in touch, checking in, asking about my new journey, and inspired me. One thing I miss most about working with you is being surrounded by people, where I could assume positive intent in every conversation. It is a bit harder when I’m on my own. But I will continue to honor those values and carry them with me as I grow. 𝐓𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬: Thank you for being here. I know my posts can be long - just like this one - it has been my little experiment in writing what feels true to me versus what a “good” post 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 look like. Thanks for holding space for me to simply be myself. For those of you who have reached out with thoughts and encouragement: your messages mean a lot to me. Knowing that you’re out there makes me feel seen and connected. 𝐓𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨’𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭: Whether it’s advice, brainstorming, listening, nudging me to go forward, or sharing laughter and lessons learned—you’ve shown me what true support looks like. I’ve often felt the need to “earn” such generosity, but many of you remind me of the power of 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥. It is an act that helps build a better community for anyone on a similar journey. I promise to be part of the ripple effect, spreading support to others in needed. To those I haven’t connected with yet: let’s find each other and keep building this circle of support together. Starting a solo career has been full of new challenges. Most days are exciting, but there are moments I feel lost or make mistakes I didn’t see coming. Yet, each misstep teaches me something valuable. Sometimes it’s about staying true to my values, and other times it’s about stepping out of my comfort zone to learn something new. It’s a constant practice of courageous and authentic living. I’m grateful for all of it and will carry this gratitude as a force to walk further. A little update about me🌟. For the rest of the year, I’ll focus on what fuels me most: coaching. I’m excited to dive deeper into this work and will share more in my next post after Thanksgiving. Wishing you a Thanksgiving filled with the people and things you love.

In between Canadian and US Thanksgiving, it's the perfect time to reflect on the importance of gratitude and appreciation in our lives. The power of gratitude goes beyond a simple “thank you” note. It's a mindset that can profoundly impact our well-being and relationships. Research has shown that practicing gratitude can lead to: - Improved mental health and reduced stress - Stronger relationships and social connectionsIncreased happiness and life satisfaction - Enhanced empathy and reduced aggression Here are some ways to incorporate gratitude into your life, including your workplace: - Keep a gratitude journal: Write down three things you're thankful for each day. - Express appreciation to others: Take time to thank people who have positively impacted your life sincerely. - Practice mindfulness: Pay attention to the present moment and appreciate the small joys in life. - Volunteer or give back: Helping others can increase your own sense of gratitude. Thanksgiving: A Time for Collective Appreciation Thanksgiving provides a special opportunity to come together with loved ones and express our gratitude collectively. This year, consider these ideas to make your celebration more meaningful: - Share gratitude around the table: Have each person express what they're thankful for before the meal. -Create a gratitude tree: Write notes of appreciation on paper leaves and hang them on a decorative branch. -Reach out to distant loved ones: Send messages or make calls to those who can't be with you in person. -Give back to your community: Volunteer at a local charity or donate to a cause you care about. Extending Gratitude Beyond the HolidayWhile Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to focus on gratitude, the real challenge is to maintain this attitude throughout the year. By making appreciation a daily habit, we can transform our outlook on life and positively impact those around us. As we celebrate this Thanksgiving, let's remember that gratitude is not just about being thankful for what we have, but also about recognizing the value of the people and experiences that shape our lives. In doing so, we nurture a more positive, connected, and fulfilling existence for ourselves and those around us. *Reflection Question: What are three things you're most grateful for this Thanksgiving season, and how can you express that gratitude? #thanksgiving #gratitude #wellness

As Thanksgiving has just passed and the holiday season is upon us, I’ve been contemplating the meaning of gratitude. Here is a reflection from one of my favorite poets, David Whyte that resonates with me. As we move through the holiday season, how do you practice gratitude in your daily life, beyond just the holidays? GRATITUDE is not a passive response to something we have been given, gratitude arises from paying attention, from being awake in the presence of everything that lives within and without and beside us. Gratitude is not necessarily something that is shown after the event, it is the deep, a-priori state of attention that shows we understand and are equal to the gifted nature of life. Gratitude is the understanding that many millions of things must come together and live together and mesh together and breathe together in order for us to take even one more breath of air, that the underlying gift of life and incarnation as a living, participating human being is a privilege; that we are miraculously, part of something, rather than nothing. Even if that something is temporarily pain or despair, we inhabit a living world, with real faces, real voices, laughter, the color blue, the green of the fields, the freshness of a cold wind, or the tawny hue of a winter landscape. To see the full miraculous essentiality of the color blue is to be grateful with no necessity for a word of thanks. To see fully, the beauty of a daughter’s face across the table, of a son's outline against the mountains, is to be fully grateful without having to seek a God to thank him. To sit among friends and strangers, hearing many voices, strange opinions; to intuit even stranger inner lives beneath calm surface lives, to inhabit many worlds at once in this world, to be a someone amongst all other someones, and therefore to make a conversation without saying a word, is to deepen our sense of presence and therefore our natural sense of thankfulness that everything happens both with us and without us, that we are participants and witness all at once. Thankfulness finds its full measure in generosity of presence, both through participation and witness. We sit at the table as part of every other person’s world while making our own world without will or effort, this is what is extraordinary and gifted, this is the essence of gratefulness, seeing to the heart of privilege. Thanksgiving happens when our sense of presence meets all other presences. Being unappreciative might mean we are simply not paying attention. …. In CONSOLATIONS: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words. Revised Edition. © David Whyte and Many Rivers Press 2021 #thanksgiving #gratitude #presence

As friends, families and colleagues in the US celebrate Thanksgiving, it got me reflecting on 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞. How often do we pause to acknowledge what's going well for us? And when life feels overwhelming, what role does gratitude play? This year has been a tough one for me personally. My dad passed away in January, and in May we made the difficult decision to move my mum into residential care. Family illnesses, relationship breakdowns, and financial challenges have also weighed heavily on our family. In moments like these, it’s hard to find things to be grateful for. And yet, I’ve realised that gratitude isn’t about pretending everything is fine or brushing over the pain. Instead, for me, gratitude is like a compass. It doesn’t change the terrain or remove the obstacles, but it helps us reorient ourselves. It points us back to the people, values, and moments that keep us moving forward, even in the darkest times. This year, more than ever, gratitude has guided me to the positives in my life: the unwavering support of friends and family, moments of laughter amidst the tears, and the strength and resilience I’ve discovered in myself through it all. It’s not always obvious or easy, but when I’ve taken the time to notice, gratitude has helped me regain perspective and find a sense of direction. As we reflect on what we’re thankful for, I think it’s important to remember that gratitude isn’t about being blindly positive. It’s about being deeply present. It’s about acknowledging the hard stuff while also recognising the moments of connection, kindness, or courage that help us navigate life’s challenges. So, I’d like to ask: What guides you when life feels overwhelming? For me, gratitude is my compass. It doesn’t always provide instant clarity, but it helps me find my way when I feel lost. I'd love to hear "what does gratitude mean to you, especially in difficult times"? Happy Thanksgiving.

Did you know that gratitude is the value most closely associated with joy? This means that even when things aren't going our preferred way, we can still feel happy just by identifying a few things for which we are truly thankful. When I first heard what for me seemed like such an over-simplified, Pollyanna, solution, I balked. "Yeah, right: naming a few things we're grateful for is really going to shift my mood? How is that so? Nothing outside of me will change, so how can I feel better even with the same circumstances?" Finally, things started feeling catastrophic enough that I became willing to try anything. So I started keeping a gratitude journal. Everyday, I listed 10 things for which I was truly grateful. Some days, I could write only "this day is finally over" or "this pen writes without my fighting to get it to work." And those things were ok. too. As long as I was being authentically grateful. Because you know what started happening the more gratitude lists I wrote? In the moment they were happening I would start noticing the things, people and places which would end up on my list later. As a consequence, I started simultaneously feeling and expressing my thankfulness as it was happening. I indeed became happier!! So during this week of Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday, btw), in the United States, I invite you all to start a gratitude journal. After all, with the chaos most of us experience in the world, wouldn't it be cool to raise the amount of joy in the ways we can? Gratitude lists will get us there. I'll start...I'm grateful for: 1. all of you reading this (without you, I wouldn't have a reason to write 😅). 2. the scheduling feature in LinkedIn which allows me to write this when most convenient for me 3. my gorgeous girls, whom I worked so hard to have. 15 years ago last week, I learned I was pregnant with my oldest 🥰. Now it's your turn...Please let me know in the comments three things you're grateful for. Once you list them notice how your mood shifted...would love to hear about that, too!! You deserve it. https://lnkd.in/dJChXPUh

Did you know that gratitude is the value most closely associated with joy? This means that even when things aren't going our preferred way, we can still feel happy just by identifying a few things for which we are truly thankful. When I first heard what for me seemed like such an over-simplified, Pollyanna, solution, I balked. "Yeah, right: naming a few things we're grateful for is really going to shift my mood? How is that so? Nothing outside of me will change, so how can I feel better even with the same circumstances?" Finally, things started feeling catastrophic enough that I became willing to try anything. So I started keeping a gratitude journal. Everyday, I listed 10 things for which I was truly grateful. Some days, I could write only "this day is finally over" or "this pen writes without my fighting to get it to work." And those things were ok. too. As long as I was being authentically grateful. Because you know what started happening the more gratitude lists I wrote? In the moment they were happening I would start noticing the things, people and places which would end up on my list later. As a consequence, I started simultaneously feeling and expressing my thankfulness as it was happening. I indeed became happier!! So during this week of Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday, btw), in the United States, I invite you all to start a gratitude journal. After all, with the chaos most of us experience in the world, wouldn't it be cool to raise the amount of joy in the ways we can? Gratitude lists will get us there. I'll start...I'm grateful for: 1. all of you reading this (without you, I wouldn't have a reason to write 😅). 2. the scheduling feature in LinkedIn which allows me to write this when most convenient for me 3. my gorgeous girls, whom I worked so hard to have. 15 years ago last week, I learned I was pregnant with my oldest 🥰. Now it's your turn...Please let me know in the comments three things you're grateful for. Once you list them notice how you mood may have shifted...would love to hear about that, too!! You deserve it. https://lnkd.in/dZgiFUgU

Do you practice gratitude? 🙌 No matter what life brings, there's always something to be thankful for.   As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, it’s a great time to practice gratitude.   Even on challenging days, gratitude can shift our perspective and remind us of the beauty that exists in every moment.   There are many silly and serious ways to accomplish the gratitude goal.   💖Journaling: write down 3-5 things you're grateful for. They can be big or small. 💖Reminders: Set daily reminders on your phone or leave sticky notes that reflect gratitude. 💖Sharing: Share one thing you’re grateful for with a friend, family member, or colleague 💖Thankful turkey project: Here's a fun project to teach kids about gratitude, and it's pretty hilarious.   We all face challenges in life, and practicing gratitude can help us develop a positive mindset and allow us to approach these situations with a clearer perspective.   The practice of gratitude doesn't just change our outlook—it has the power to transform our lives.   So, take a moment each day to reflect on what you're thankful for, and watch your heart grow with appreciation.   For a bit of humor, I’ve included our thankful turkeys made by my kids 7, 5, and 2.   As you embrace whatever brings you peace and joy, we wish you a truly wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!   ✨I'm Debbie, a seasoned executive recruiter in the beauty industry, and I partner with candidates and companies to provide an elevated recruiting experience. ✨