This time of year is the season for gratitude. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, joy is apparent all around. It’s difficult not to be thankful when you sit down for a large home-cooked meal on Thanksgiving or you gather around the tree to open presents on Christmas. Life is happier, sweeter, and more fun.

As this season of gratitude falls upon us, remember all there is to be thankful for. No matter where you are in life, God has blessed you abundantly in so many ways. As this time comes around though, let’s also remember those who don’t have as much as us. Invite someone over for the holidays if they don’t have family to gather with. Offer a meal to the homeless. Give to children who won’t get any presents on Christmas. Recognize that there are so many people in this world who do not get the same luxuries as many of us have. They don’t have family to celebrate with, food to eat, or gifts to open. They don’t know the true joy of the holidays because they have no way to experience it. So during this season of gratitude, find the opportunity to give to others. Find the opportunity to love others so that they may feel gratitude too. That they may feel the abundant joy that comes with laughing around a dinner table, stuffing ourselves with so many delicious desserts, or ripping paper to find a surprise underneath. Giving to others will not only leave them with gratitude but will leave you more grateful for the ability to love.

Also, remember what these two holidays coming up are truly about. We tend to get caught up in the meal making and gift giving and getting that we forget to slow down and truly enjoy those around us and all we have. It doesn’t matter how stuffed you can get on Thanksgiving. Care about the family time and realize what you are grateful for in life. It doesn’t matter how expensive or extensive your gifts are on Christmas but rather the laughter and cheer that comes with family and friends and remembering Jesus’ birth and the life He lived and sacrificed for us. This world has gotten caught up with fulfillment in things. But no matter how much we have, things will not bring us true happiness. Genuine relationships, quality time, and God will bring us that true happiness we are all striving for. So in this holiday season, make a goal to find that true happiness. Strive for pure joy. Live life to the fullest in this season of gratitude.