- Positive Vibes
- Posts
- What Are You Thankful For?
What Are You Thankful For?
Plus, my new book and sourdough success
Yasmine S. Ali, MD
November 21, 2024
“Find the good and praise it.”
Hello again!
I hope you’re having a great month of November so far!
Thanksgiving is next week, and as you know, fostering an “attitude of gratitude” is a big part of Positive Vibes. As Sonja Lyubomirsky puts it in her book, The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want, "The expression of gratitude is a kind of metastrategy for achieving happiness.” (More on this below!)
So I hope you will have a chance to reflect on what you are most grateful for this Thanksgiving, and that your holiday season will be happy, peaceful, and filled with love.
And here’s one of the things for which I am grateful: YOU! Thank you again for being a member of the Positive Vibes community! 🙂
With gratitude,
Yasmine
For New Subscribers
Here are some links to prior issues you may have missed—some of the best ones 😉 :
Why Positive Vibes? (How this newsletter got its start)
A Very Good Year (Contains many of the highlights of the journey for Walk through Fire: The Train Disaster that Changed America in the year of its release, 2023)
May the Road Rise Up to Meet You (St. Patrick’s Day 2024, with an excerpt from my upcoming novel, The View from the Cliffs)
You can find all the archived issues of Positive Vibes here. (Scroll down on that page after clicking on the link.)
What I’m Feeling Good About
The Kickstarter campaign for my new novel, The View from the Cliffs, is going strong! Thank you to those of you who have already pledged your support and pre-ordered the book!
This book will NOT be available on Amazon, and the Kickstarter is your best chance to get an autographed copy at a special discount. All rewards are being offered below retail prices! Haven’t checked out the campaign yet? Visit here to secure your copy: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/yasmineali/the-view-from-the-cliffs-a-novel
The Kickstarter campaign will run through Black Friday, Nov. 29.
I’ve also been very encouraged by what beta (advance) readers have had to say about the book so far! You can see some of their comments on the book’s Kickstarter page.
______________________________
In other news . . . do you remember my sourdough adventure? Well, I’ve been successful at baking sourdough bread as well as sourdough biscuits!
It is quite a process (especially to get started), but very rewarding:
Do you have any hobbies you find both challenging and rewarding?
What You’re Feeling Good About
Happy birthday to all who are celebrating in November!
Here are some fun facts about November birthdays:
(This section is where I’ll be featuring good news, tips, and bits of wisdom from readers—so please reply to this email and share some with me! It can be anything, big or small. Whatever you’re feeling good about.)
Keeping on the Sunny Side
As I mentioned in the intro to this newsletter, having an attitude of gratitude can have tremendous benefits for all involved. In one of the books I’m currently reading, Sonja Lyubomirsky’s The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want, she writes:
“The expression of gratitude is a kind of metastrategy for achieving happiness. Gratitude is many things to many people. It is wonder; it is appreciation; it is looking at the bright side of a setback; it is fathoming abundance; it is thanking someone in your life; it is thanking God; it is ‘counting blessings.’ It is savoring; it is not taking things for granted; it is coping; it is present-oriented. Gratitude is an antidote to negative emotions, a neutralizer of envy, avarice, hostility, worry, and irritation.”
What are you grateful for?
More Good News
Who knew? Thanksgiving coincides with National Game and Puzzle Week this year! Do you have a favorite board game, puzzle, or card game? My all-time favorite, as my family and closest friends know, is Trivial Pursuit!
In other Thanksgiving news …
And speaking of November birthdays, Edwin Powell Hubble, the namesake of the Hubble Space Telescope, was born on Nov. 20, 1889:
Pawsitive Vibes
You may remember Patti Damesworth’s magnificent Maine Coon cat, Millie, from previous issues. Here’s another pic of her—not wanting to come inside, according to Patti! Thank you, Patti, for sharing this gorgeous photo!
Got a pet pic you’d like to share? Please feel free to reply to this email!
Riddle Me This
What do an island and the letter “t” have in common?
Answer at the bottom of this newsletter.
For Your Playlist
Here’s the link if you’re on Spotify.
Last Word
Gratitude is the memory of the heart.
Answer to the riddle: They’re both in the middle of water.
