I have a challenge for you.

I’ve been watching the November Gratitude challenges on social media. I really like these challenges. I like that for ten seconds people are stopping to think about what they are grateful for.

People are often grateful for friends and family and their mental, physical, and emotional health. They’re grateful for their pets and favorite things.

But one thing is missing.

No one is grateful for themselves.

And I know that no one wants to be the conceited person who posts how they think they’re the cat’s meow. The bee’s knees. The coolest cucumber.

So don’t post it.

My challenge for you this week before Thanksgiving is to give yourself a break and be grateful for yourself.

The world is so charged right now. We are all feeling things so much more strongly than we often do. School breaks are approaching, political debates are heating up, the world is constantly exploding.

Stepping back is not a negative action.

Go to your own space. Meditate, go for a run, do a puzzle, take a bath, do yoga. Breathe. Allow yourself to relax and think about why you’re amazing. What do you DO that makes you grateful? What special skills do you have that you love about yourself? What is the weirdest thing you do that you love about yourself? Send yourself love.

And when you do this, you will open yourself up and see a world so much bigger yet so much smaller.

You may still feel a charge, but it will be softer and steadier instead of erratic and heated.

The world needs calm action. It needs gratitude and peace.

But you cannot take care of others until you take care of yourself.

This is what you bring to the (Thanksgiving) table.