The Things We Forget to Be Grateful For
Every November, gratitude seems to find its way into our conversations.
We make gratitude lists. We go around the Thanksgiving table and share what we're thankful for. Most of us begin with the big things: family, friends, health, home, and work. All of these are worth acknowledgement and are key to our everyday well-being.
While the big things come to mind easily, sometimes we get caught up in the busy-ness of life and forget about the smaller things… The things we may take for granted without even realizing it. So, as November begins to unfold, I've been making an intentional effort to acknowledge the little things that I often miss in my gratitude practice.
Here are a few of my “small” things:
The first sip of really good coffee in the morning.
A plan getting cancelled on a day when I'm exhausted.
Clean sheets.
Stepping out onto my balcony as the sun begins to rise and standing in awe of the colors in the sky.
A song I love popping up on my Spotify playlist.
A hot shower after a long hike.
Taking off my shoes—and, let's be honest, my leggings and sports bra—at the end of a long day at the studio.
Someone saying, “I'll take care of it,” and actually meaning it.
Being quiet with the people who know me well enough to know that silence is healing for me.
A body that has changed over the years but continues to let me hike, practice Pilates, work, travel and experience life.
Finding the courage to say what I want.
When I look back at my list, what stands out to me is how gratitude exists in the ordinary. These little moments happen all of the time, which makes them easy to miss.
Missing the small things in the tiny moments of daily life is what I’ve been paying attention to in my own gratitude practice lately. I’ve realized that I don’t necessarily need more things to be grateful for, but I do need to pay closer attention to what’s already happening in my life. And this idea leads me to abundance.
When we hear the word abudance, we sometimes slip into thinking about more—more time, more money, more opportunities, more experiences. But what if abundance isn’t always about more?
What if some of the fullness we’re looking for is already here?
Maybe it’s in the big things we easily name when someone asks what we’re grateful for. But maybe it’s also in that first sip of coffee, the cancelled plan we secretly needed, a beautiful sunrise, a body that keeps showing up for us, or the person who knows when we need a little quiet.
The more I notice the smaller things, the more I realize how much of a full life can be found in moments I might easily overlook. And that’s what Abundant in What Matters has come to mean to me. Not having more, but noticing more.
Looking Inside the Big Things
This is also a practice we can bring into the way we think about wellness.
At PeaceFull Living, our philosophy is built around four pillars I believe help us feel well and live fully: MOVE • FLOW • REST • BELONG. When we take time to look more closely at each one, there is an abundance of small things to be grateful for.
MOVE: The Body That Keeps Meeting Us Where We Are
My relationship with movement has changed over the years. There was a time when exercise was more about what I wanted my body to look like or what I thought it should be able to do. The older I get, the more grateful I am for what my body allows me to experience.
I appreciate strength and mobility differently now. I’m grateful that I can hike a beautiful trail, practice Pilates, learn something new, travel, and simply move through my day. There are things my body may not do exactly as it did twenty years ago, but I’m learning that doesn’t make it any less worthy of my appreciation.
Our bodies have carried us through so many seasons of life, and they continue to adapt right along with us. Yet when we think about gratitude, how often do we stop to appreciate the ordinary movements that make our lives possible?
Take a PeaceFull Pause. Think about your body as it is right now, in this season of your life. What does it allow you to do? Maybe it’s walking the dog, carrying your groceries, getting down on the floor, gardening, traveling, playing with your grandchildren, hugging someone you love, or getting up each morning and moving through your day.
For just a moment, instead of thinking about what you want your body to change or do better, notice what it’s already doing for you.
That appreciation is part of what MOVE means to me.
FLOW: The Plans That Changed
I don’t think I’ve ever written “changed plans” on a gratitude list. And yet, when I look back at my life, some of the things I’m most grateful for exist because something didn’t go according to plan.
Sometimes I chose the change. I changed my mind, said no, tried something new, or realized that something that once felt right for me didn’t anymore. Other times, change chose me. A door closed, a relationship changed, or life took a turn I never would have chosen for myself.
Those experiences don’t always feel like something to be grateful for while we’re living through them. Sometimes we need a little distance before we can see what they taught us, what they made possible, or how much we learned about ourselves simply by finding another way forward.
I’ve also learned that changing my mind doesn’t mean I was wrong before. Sometimes it simply means I know something now that I didn’t know then. And starting again doesn’t mean starting from nothing because I truly believe we bring everything we’ve learned onto the path ahead.
Take a PeaceFull Pause. Think about something in your life that didn’t go according to plan. Maybe it was a change you chose, or maybe it was one you never asked for. With the benefit of where you are today, is there anything within that experience you can appreciate? Something you learned, someone you met, a strength you discovered, or a direction you might never have considered otherwise?
We don’t have to be grateful for every change. But perhaps we can be grateful for our ability to adapt, grow, and find our way forward.
That’s part of what FLOW means to me.
REST: The Unexpected Gift of Nothing to Do
Genuine rest has become something of a missing art in our busy lives. With so many demands on our time and energy, we’ve grown accustomed to always doing something. In fact, when an unexpected hour opens up in the day, our first thought is rarely about how we might enjoy the time. Instead, we reactively jump right into how much we can get done.
I’m guilty of this, too. A session gets cancelled and suddenly I have an hour to myself. While I could sit outside with a cup of coffee, take a walk, read a few pages of a book, or simply enjoy having nowhere I need to be, I often find myself answering a few emails, throwing in a load of laundry, running a quick errand, or tackling something on my to-do list.
Somewhere along the way, I think many of us learned to treat rest as something we earn after everything else is finished. The problem is, everything is never finished. There will always be another email, another load of laundry, another errand, another project, or another person who needs something from us.
So this month, I am focusing on appreciating rest and learning not to fill every open space. I invite you to join me.
Take a PeaceFull Pause. The next time you find five unexpected minutes, resist the urge to fill them. Step outside and feel the sun on your face. Sit down with your coffee instead of drinking it while you’re doing something else. Close your eyes and listen to one favorite song. Put your phone down and take a few slow breaths. Or do absolutely nothing for five minutes—and notice how that feels.
Maybe the gift isn’t always having more time.
Maybe it’s allowing ourselves to receive the time we already have.
That’s part of what REST means to me.
BELONG: The People Who Know How You Take Your Coffee
Of all the things I’ve become more grateful for, this may be the one that matters most: the people with whom we don’t have to try so hard.
They’re the people who know how we take our coffee, who can sit quietly beside us without feeling the need to fill the silence, and who notice when we’re a little quieter than usual. They’re the people we can call without first rehearsing what we’re going to say. They genuinely celebrate when something wonderful happens in our lives, and they’ve probably heard some of our stories more than once—but let us tell them again anyway.
These are the relationships that make our lives feel rich. And the older I get, the more I understand that there’s a difference between being surrounded by people and truly feeling like we belong.
Belonging is being with people who allow us to show up as we are. It’s walking into a familiar place and feeling yourself settle. It’s knowing you don’t have to earn your invitation, explain yourself, or become a different version of yourself to fit in. It’s being known, welcomed, and received.
Take a PeaceFull Pause. Think about the people and places where you feel most like yourself. Who can you sit quietly with? Who celebrates the good things with you? Where can you walk through the door and feel yourself exhale? Take a moment to appreciate those relationships—and perhaps let someone know you’re grateful for the way they make you feel when you’re together.
Wellness isn’t only about what we do for our bodies. The relationships we nurture and the places where we feel safe enough to simply be ourselves matter, too.
That’s what BELONG means to me.
Abundant in What Matters
As we move toward Thanksgiving and into the holiday season, there will be plenty competing for our attention. Calendars will fill, lists will get longer, and it can be easy to move from one thing to the next without really noticing the moments in between.
This year, I want to try something a little different.
I want to keep noticing the small things. The body that allows me to move through my life. The changes that have helped me grow. An unexpected pocket of time when I can choose to rest instead of filling it. The people who know me well enough that I don’t have to explain every quiet moment.
And I hope you’ll notice your own version of these things, too.
As you gather around a Thanksgiving table, make your holiday plans, shop for gifts, cook, travel, celebrate, or simply move through an ordinary November day, take a PeaceFull Pause along the way. Look a little more closely at the people, experiences, comforts, abilities, and everyday moments that make your life feel like yours.
Maybe being Abundant in What Matters isn’t about having more at all.
Maybe it’s moving through this season with a little more appreciation for what our bodies allow us to experience, a little more grace for the changes we didn’t plan, permission to rest when we need it, and time for the people and places where we know we belong.
There is so much worth noticing.
And perhaps that is where gratitude becomes abundance.
About The Author
Roberta Hughes is a Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher, facial reflexology specialist, and a meditation and yoga instructor. She is the founder of PeaceFull Living—a wellness space devoted to helping people slow down, tune in, and become intentional about self care. With a personalized approach, Roberta empowers her clients to prioritize their well-being through mindful movement and healing practices that include Pilates, facial reflexology, and yoga.
Roberta is passionate about helping individuals build sustainable wellness habits, whether through in-person sessions or by creating a nurturing home practice using the PeaceFull Essentials video library. This on-demand resource is designed to fit into even the busiest of lifestyles, offering accessible tools to support physical health, emotional balance, and inner calm.
Roberta offers complimentary consultations to help new students clarify their goals and select the best path forward. If you're ready to reconnect with yourself and create space for wellness in your life, visit the PeaceFull Living website to get started.
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