A Thanksgiving Talk: Finding Gratitude in the Bittersweet

What do you do when Thanksgiving doesn’t feel like it used to? In this episode, Rhonda invites you into a gentle, honest conversation about family, gratitude, solo holidays, and how to create a Thanksgiving that truly honors where you are: full heart, messy feelings, and all.

Thanksgiving used to mean family, favorite foods, and leftovers until life shifted, families changed, and traditions faded. In this deeply personal episode, I share honestly about how I’ve learned to meet Thanksgiving as an adult: sometimes in a crowd, sometimes alone, sometimes grieving what once was.

We explore how to honor the bittersweet layers of this holiday, the gratitude, the loss, the pressure to pretend, and the freedom to choose something different. I talk about learning to check in with myself, finding new rituals like “100 gratitudes and 100 acknowledgements,” and discovering that your solo moments can be sacred, too.

Wherever you are this Thanksgiving: surrounded, solo, or somewhere in between, this episode is an invitation to presence, honesty, and gratitude for exactly who you’re becoming.

What You’ll Discover

• Why Thanksgiving can bring up both gratitude and unexpected grief—and how to honor both
• How to check in with yourself and create new traditions that actually fit who you are today
• The power of “100 gratitudes and 100 acknowledgements” as a holiday ritual
• Why change, even when painful, is part of becoming more yourself
• How solitude can be a sacred part of your journey—not something to fear
• Compassion for anyone whose family (or feelings) aren’t what they hoped they’d be
• A loving reminder: this is your journey, and you get to decide how to spend it

Key Takeaway

Thanksgiving isn’t about recreating the past—it’s about honoring who you are, what you need, and how you want to show up today, with as much gratitude and gentleness as you can muster.

Key Quote

“I invite you to be grateful that you're on this journey to become more and more you. The journey to become more and more who you're meant to be. The journey to live the life your soul intended.”

Resources / Mentions

• Journaling prompt: How do I really want to experience this holiday? What would feel most nourishing for me today?
• Practice: Create your own “100 gratitudes and 100 acknowledgements” list
• For more encouragement and tools: fearlessliving.org

Invitation

Wherever and however you’re spending Thanksgiving, let yourself be present to what’s real for you, gratitude and all. Try the 100 gratitudes practice—even just a handful can shift your day.

If today’s Thanksgiving episode brought you comfort or insight, send it to a friend who could use a warm note right now. Reply and share—how have your holidays changed over time, and what does gratitude look like for you this year? Subscribe and leave a quick rating to support the Love Notes community.