Gratitude

'Jay shares thoughts on the great American holiday – Thanksgiving!'

Thanksgiving is a great holiday! It’s about family, it’s about food – and most of all, it is about gratitude. The one time of year when we can stop and take a moment to feel thankful. Thankful for all the blessings that are bestowed upon us. Thankful for family, for friends and for all the wonderful spirit in our communities and the good in the world.

It is also a uniquely American holiday. First celebrated by the Pilgrims many years before the founding of our nation. Of all the holidays we celebrate in a calendar year, Thanksgiving comes with some of our most valued traditions. A day that brings together family, friends, and neighbors alike. A day to relax when we may not have had a lot of time off recently. But most importantly it’s a day to share our gratitude for the things we hold most dear, a reminder to appreciate all the good there is in life.

Cue the turkey’s, stuffing, gravy, and football, as this coming week, we celebrate Thanksgiving. My favorite aspect about it is how it tends to center our attention on all things positive, a call to action of sorts that prompts us to recognize that even though life may ebb and flow, there’s more to be grateful for than anything else. And after some of the muted celebrations of the last two years, we have more than ever to be grateful for this year.

Yet when it comes time to say what we’re grateful for, there might be high expectations from friends and family to be overtly grateful for everything and everyone right there and then. The truth is though, while it is the one day of the year truly dedicated to showing our thanks, I like to think of it as a chance to push the reset button on not necessarily what I am grateful for, but instead, how I practice gratitude the rest of the year. When it comes time to answer what I’m grateful for around the Thanksgiving Day table, I often find that I’m also asking myself, “well, have I been grateful enough this year for all my blessings?” And not in self-defeating way, but as a way to remind myself that to regularly practice gratitude is to reconnect and remind myself of the things that bring me the most joy and happiness.

“The grateful mind reaps massive advantages in life,” says Dr. Robert Emmons, a professor of psychology. Gratitude however requires action. To receive its benefits, sometimes it requires us to move beyond simply naming our blessings at the Thanksgiving table and instead, reflecting on how we practice gratitude, not necessarily the why. Through this approach, we may actually arrive at a point where sacrifices made by our relatives, family, or friends for our own benefit or the things we have in our life that make it just a little bit easier become clearer and our appreciation for them grows, and in turn so too does our gratitude. Wishing you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving!

Read The Report

Turkey Pardons – The Great American Tradition

New Hampshire Connections to Thanksgiving

Positive Profile of the Week: Lauren Cline - Business Owner, Leader, One Fantastic Baker!

This week are delighted to highlight an accomplished media and communications professional, entrepreneur and friend, Lauren Cline.

It is especially important that we highlight Lauren as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches. According to our best estimates, nearly 19 million ready-made pies are purchased for Thanksgiving. As someone who loves pie, I always try to scout out the next best spot. Lucky enough for me and fellow Granite Staters, we have such a place right in Bedford, New Hampshire. Lauren’s entrepreneurial venture known as ‘Slightly Crooked Pies.’

For those who think you’ve heard of Lauren, you most likely have. She was a familiar face covering the news for NECN. And today, she is coaching her husband Drew on radio techniques for he is the host of New Hampshire’s newest news talk radio program, ‘NH Morning Update’ on WFEA. Lauren is a communications icon. She has worked for WRKO, NECN, and several other media outlets across the region. Today, Lauren is overseeing the communications’ team at Catholic Medical Center. Her unique knowledge and commitment to seeking new opportunities in storytelling is truly amazing. It’s no wonder why she was included in the New Hampshire Union Leader’s 2018 ‘40 under 40’ list. But it's not just her amazing communication expertise that makes her a powerhouse in the community, it's her passion for baking that has led to the new endeavor every Granite Stater can't get enough of.

Several years ago, in Lauren’s 200-year-old home near Joppa Hill Farm in Bedford, she baked a pumpkin pie. It came out crooked because of the slant in her kitchen floor. It led to her inspiration to start selling pies every week. She would make a few dozen and in a moment's time they were gone via her pop-up store located near her driveway.

From there she created her own brand and ‘Slightly Crooked Pies’ began heading to a kitchen table near you. Lauren then combined her passion for baking with her communication skills to create a New Hampshire treasure. On her Facebook page @slightlycrookedpies, Lauren would post the week’s available pies and where you can get them. In moments, they were gone. But, people wanted more and the demand had to be met. So, she expanded.

Today, Lauren and Slightly Crooked Pies can be found at local stores throughout the greater Manchester Area. Her fans are always ready to see what's coming out this week and if I remember correctly, I recall a mutual friend of both Lauren and myself, who during Covid, was able to get his fix of Strawberry Rhubarb Pies by purchasing 6 mini pies and then proudly posting it on social media. It's this kind of fan base Lauren and her pies have created, that earned her WMUR’s ‘Viewers’ Choice Award’ for ‘Best Pies in New Hampshire.’

I can tell you I'm a fan not only of her pies but of her commitment to communications, our community, and being a role model to many. Lauren is a living example of following your passions and turning optimism into opportunity. For those who have enjoyed Slightly Crooked Pies, I invite you to tell me your pie of choice at ‘[email protected]. If you haven’t experienced this homemade 603 delight, I invite you to learn more at slightlycrookedpies.com .

Thank you, Lauren, you’ve got the right recipe for success!

Quotes of the Week

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”

Marcus Tullius Cicero

Jay Lucas | www.JayLucas.us

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