Twelve Days of Christmas: Two Turtle Doves

Join me, Terri Kellums, on a heartfelt journey through the world of gratitude on our second day of the 12 Days of Christmas series. While exploring this theme, I opened up about a tradition close to my heart—one that began with my daughters and a daily group message to share things we're thankful for. This practice not only strengthened our family bond but led to an expansion of my circle of gratitude, enveloping friends and loved ones in a shared experience of appreciation. I'll take you through the highs and lows of maintaining a gratitude practice, touching upon those challenging days when finding things to be thankful for seems like an insurmountable task.

This episode offers you a 'life hack' for those tough mornings, starting with identifying five things you're grateful for, from the familiar aroma of coffee to the cozy caress of your bedsheets. Whether you're looking to enhance your relationships, boost your health, or enrich your emotional and spiritual well-being, this episode is your invitation to cultivate a habit of gratitude that can profoundly shift your perspective and bring renewed joy every day. Let's learn how to turn the ordinary into an opportunity for thankfulness.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
You're listening to the what Women Want Today
podcast.
If you love the idea of beingpart of a community of women who
are looking to thrive, not justsurvive, you're in the right
place.
Join hosts Terry Cullums andAmanda Keeper each week, as they
bring you topics and guests tohelp you improve your
relationships, your health andyour emotional and spiritual

(00:23):
well-being.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Hello and welcome to today's episode of the what
Women Want Today podcast.
I'm your host, terry Cullums.
Welcome to day two of the 12days of Christmas.
Today we're going to focus ongratitude.
I started really thinking aboutgratitude a few years ago.
My daughters and I would get ona daily group text message and

(00:52):
we would.
I think we picked the numberfive.
For some reason, we would pickfive things we were grateful for
that day and we did that forseveral years in a row, every
November first, we would do thatand it expanded I believe it
was last year expanded toinclude other people in my life
and I just find it a very, just,a very wonderful 30 days.

(01:17):
It's when you focus on gratitudeyour mind will automatically
shift away from negativethoughts and it's almost as if
you're looking for things to begrateful for.
And in fact, I thinkmindfulness is the key to
gratitude, because if you're ina moment whether it's like today

(01:42):
, I have been trying to reset mycircadian rhythm, I've not been
sleeping well, and they say, ifyou get out in the morning and
you see the sun rise and then inthe evening you go out and you
see the sun set, it can be oneof the tools you can use to
gradually reset your circadianrhythm, and so I've been going

(02:03):
out and walking every morning.
Like I look at the weather appon my phone and if it says 710
is when sun rise, is that I'mout there at 710, ready to go
for my 30 minute walk.
Well, today I had a date set upwith a friend to do the walk.
We were going to actually goout to one of my favorite places

(02:24):
and do a little hike and sheended up getting caught up with
doing some family stuff so shecouldn't make it, so I went out
there.
I wasn't ready to go for a walk, I didn't know at that point
she had rescheduled, so I justwent out there and just like
stood and closed my eyes andjust let like the sun shine on

(02:45):
me and I automatically mythought was I'm so grateful for
the sunshine.
The last couple of days here inSouthern Arizona it's been
really cloudy, and to see thesun reminded me how grateful I
am that I live in a place whereI get 300 plus days of sunshine
every year.

(03:05):
It was one of the reasons Iactually wanted to move to
Arizona in the first place was,you know, just the sheer amount
of sunshine that we get everyyear here.
So I found myself, you know,feeling very grateful, and when
you can put yourself in themoment where you are and feel

(03:29):
that gratefulness for even thesmallest of things, whether it's
, you know, I'll walk out someoutside sometimes just to take
out the trash, and if you cansmell a little bit of rain in
the air, you'll feel grateful.
It like it starts to build onitself.
It's almost as if your brain istaking over and is looking for

(03:49):
more ways for you to be grateful.
So here we are, day two on the12 days of Christmas, and I
really want to focus ongratitude today, and I know
there have been times when I'vestruggled.
My habit is to to name fivethings I'm grateful for before I
get out of bed in the morningand when I don't get sleep, when

(04:10):
I'm not sleeping great, I wakeup really groggy and it can be
really hard to remember to do mygratefulness practice.
And on the days when you knowyou're having a tough day, it
can seem really, really hardsometimes to think of things to
be grateful for.
So I kind of have a little, alittle cheap, or a little life

(04:31):
hack I just go immediately tothe my five senses and I'll say
what can I see that I'm gratefulfor?
What can I smell that I'mgrateful for?
The smell is usually coffee,I'll give you that.
What can I touch that I'm thatI'm grateful for?
A lot of times, that is, youknow, I'm grateful that my
husband is very affectionatefirst thing in the morning, like

(04:52):
once he realizes he's awake,you know he's right next to me,
wanting to, you know, to touchme and to be close to me.
What can you taste?
Well, again, you know we couldgo to the coffee if we want to.
And what can you hear?
And this morning, when I wasgoing through it and I went

(05:13):
through the five senses that'sthe first thing I do it kind of
kick starts me, you know.
I thought, oh, I was gratefulthat I got to talk to my
grandson the other day it washis eighth birthday this past
weekend and you know he calledus on FaceTime and just to be
able to hear his voice and to beable to see him at the same
time hit two of my senses and Iwas really grateful for that

(05:36):
time.
And so that is a little lifehack for you you can use your
five senses, really getting intoa gratefulness practice.
It doesn't have to be beforeyou got to bed.
In fact, a lot of people thatI've talked to like to make it
as part of their meditationroutine in the morning.
So they'll get up and they'llschedule some quiet time to, you

(05:59):
know, put down their thoughts,collect themselves for the day,
write down what they're gratefulfor, just spend some quiet time
and reflective thought or evenprayer, and I think that's a
very good habit to get into.
I think you know, having agratitude journal, like a
journal that is specifically forgratitude, is really nice

(06:20):
because then, when you arehaving a tough time I've
actually talked to quite a fewpeople today, which is unusual
because some days are prettyquiet around here, but I
actually talked to quite a fewpeople today and you know, I
think you know when you'rehaving a tough day it can be
really hard to find things thatyou're grateful for.

(06:41):
But I will tell you that if youget into this habit and you
develop a grateful practice, youwill automatically see some
changes, like right away, likethere's some benefits.
I wrote them down so I wouldn'tforget.
Better sleep, which I'm hopingyou know will help self-esteem

(07:03):
immunity.
It improves your relationships,because who doesn't love to
hear that someone is gratefulfor them?
I'm grateful that you called,or you know.
Whatever the activity is, itactually changes some neural
pathways in your brain, so youare going to get a hit of
dopamine and serotonin when youstart your gratefulness practice

(07:27):
and practice it daily, and itactually affects the limbic
system, so you're going to getsome emotional regulation as
well.
And so there is a good sayingthat I came across a while back
and I wanted to share it withyou today, and it says that
gratitude takes what we have andturns it into more than enough,

(07:49):
and I love that.
Head over to the Facebook grouptoday and tell me something
that you're grateful for, and Iwill leave you with this.
The meaning of the song, the 12Days of Christmas, day 2 is Two
Turtle Doves, and it oftensymbolizes love and partnership.
So use this day to discuss theimportant relationships and your

(08:10):
meaningful connections, and wewill see you tomorrow for day 3.
Have a great day, and I don'tknow if this ever happens to you
, but I sometimes will learnsomething really cool on a
podcast, on a YouTube video,audio book, whatever.
I think I'm going to rememberit and then I forget.

(08:30):
Does that ever happen to you?

Speaker 3 (08:32):
Yeah, I call it brain after 40 all the time.

Speaker 2 (08:36):
That's what we'll officially call it, but we've
come up with something.
Do you want to introduce it?

Speaker 3 (08:41):
Sure, it's from an app called quick, jim quick, and
it's an acronym called fast.

Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, and it stands for Facebook.
So we're inviting youofficially right now to come
over and join us on Facebook.
Get involved with the community, share your favorite episodes
with your friends on Facebook.

Speaker 3 (08:57):
Yeah, the A is go ahead and take an action, so you
can't remember anything if youdon't act.

Speaker 2 (09:04):
And, as is for subscribe, make sure you're
subscribed to our YouTubechannel.

Speaker 3 (09:08):
And then T is teach.
Teach what you've learned tosomebody else.
Share the love.

Speaker 2 (09:12):
All right, we hope that works for you.
Thank you for joining us.
We'll see you next week.

Speaker 3 (09:16):
Bye, bye.