When Gratitude gets personal

Genevieve Bosah Ph.D
3 min readNov 30, 2024

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Photo credit — Me

I was thinking of the American thanksgiving holiday and how we have adopted it in other parts of the world. I have an American student and today, they shared with me how everyone (from different parts of the world) is bringing a dish to celebrate the holiday with them. I thought that was cool. There’s something beautiful about how gratitude crosses cultural boundaries, how a historically American holiday can become a moment for global connection over shared food and appreciation.

The history and sentiment behind the annual thanksgiving gives us a collective moment to press pause — to look back at how far we’ve come, to sit with our present, and to hope for our future. It’s like a global deep breath, a moment to exhale and notice.

But here’s the thing about gratitude — it’s deeply personal, sometimes painfully so. What if, in looking at the present, it doesn’t seem like it amounts to much? What if you’re struggling to find something to be grateful for? These thoughts often get silenced by well-meaning people who quickly jump in to list all the things you “should” be grateful for: “But you have a roof over your head!” “At least you have your health!” “Think of those who have it worse!” Don’t be ungrateful. Arggghhhh!

No. Gratitude doesn’t work like that. It can’t be forced or prescribed. Real gratitude is like a quiet revelation — it has to come from within, has to be discovered, not assigned.

Sometimes it’s found in the smallest moments: the way sunlight hits your coffee cup in the morning, a text from a friend who just wanted to check in, the satisfaction of completing even a small task on a hard day.

That’s why those broadcast messages — you know the ones — It’s Thanksgiving! Send this to 10 people you’re grateful for! — miss the point entirely. Gratitude isn’t meant to be copied, pasted, and mass-distributed. It’s not a chain letter or a social media challenge. It’s a personal recognition, a moment of genuine appreciation that deserves to be expressed authentically.

If there’s someone who has helped you or inspired you this past year, tell them — but tell them in your own words. Make it specific. Make it real. Maybe it’s the colleague who always reminds you about the report, saves you a seat or brings you biscuit from the cafe. Maybe it’s the neighbour who brings in your bins without being asked. Maybe it’s the teacher who believed in you when you didn’t believe in yourself. (For my students reading this, could that be me? :))

Make gratitude your tradition, yes, but make it authentically yours. Let it be messy and imperfect. Let it be small some days and overwhelming on others. Let it be true.

Because real gratitude isn’t about meeting anyone else’s expectations or checking off a holiday obligation. It’s about recognising the threads of grace woven in your own unique story — even when, especially when, those threads seem hard to find.

So this thanksgiving, whether you’re bringing a dish to a multicultural feast or quietly reflecting on your own, let your gratitude be yours. Let it be genuine. Let it be from you, truly inspired by your own experience, your own journey, your own heart.

And if you’re struggling to find something to be grateful for? That’s okay too.

Sometimes gratitude takes time to surface. Sometimes it hides in unexpected places. Sometimes it’s as simple as being grateful for the ability to be honest about not feeling grateful at all.

Just please — don’t send me a broadcast message about it. I’d rather hear your real story, in your own words, when you’re ready to share it.

I am grateful for you.

PG — Awakening Greatness

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Genevieve Bosah Ph.D
Genevieve Bosah Ph.D

Written by Genevieve Bosah Ph.D

PhD in Media, Communication and Sociology |Communication Strategist & Brand Specialist | Writer | Lecturer

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