Have you ever seen Norman Rockwell’s famous painting of a Thanksgiving dinner?  There, at the head of the table, mom is serving a beautifully browned turkey, while dad is wearing a suit and beaming with pride.

Guests at the table smile and lean over gleaming white platters of colorful vegetables and gravy.

That?  That is what I thought holiday dinners should be.

Instead, Thanksgiving has always been a series of jagged memories in my household.

• Like the time my dad made wonton soup instead of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner (who does that?!).
• Or the time my brother tossed Pillsbury crescent rolls like warm little footballs instead of passing the bread basket around the table.
• Or how my mother served a frozen turkey three years in a row.
• And let’s not forget the first year my husband joined my family for Thanksgiving…that was the year my dad didn’t wear a shirt at the dinner table.

Please don’t get me started on the horrors of looking at my father’s chest hair as he carved the turkey.

All-American family we are not.  And while I’m tempted to list all the reasons I need to be adopted by Norman Rockwell, I’ve learned to find gratitude in the mess of it all.

That’s the trick.  The key to finding happiness is gratitude.

Despite the frozen turkeys, siblings who think they’re Tom Brady, and the possibility of chest hair in my gravy, there’s much to be thankful for.

• There was a time when my family couldn’t afford to buy food for a Thanksgiving meal.
• There was a time when we spent Thanksgiving in a hospital while my mother recuperated from brain cancer surgery.
• There was a time when I wanted to sit next to a child of my own.

While it might not look as we thought, gratitude makes everything enough.

This month I hope you make time to find beauty in everything life throws your way (including crescent rolls), even growing your business when things feel hard.

But before I end this note, I need to say THANK YOU for being here.  You even taking the time to read this is a gift.

I’m indebted to your feedback, encouragement, and success stories…I’m thankful to say my business is what it is because of people like you.

In Gratitude,

j*

P.S. Starting next week on my PODCAST, I’m hosting a FREE Growth ******Mindset Challenge!

• A 10-minute episode will debut each day, Monday-Friday, so be sure to subscribe to my podcast!
• Join me as I teach ONE action item to strengthen our minds, together.
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