I'm assuming that you are most likely thankful for the friends and family in your life, but are you thankful for the difficult or challenging people in your life? Or perhaps some of your friends and family ARE the challenging people in your life (hey, it happens!). In keeping with the theme of building our "Gratitude Muscles" let's take a look at how we can be thankful for the difficult people we share the planet with.

Believe it or not, difficult people serve an important role in our lives. They challenge us to develop new people skills, deepen our character traits, become better problem-solvers, get outside of our comfort zone and think "outside the box". You know, things we wouldn't necessarily "volunteer" for, without a compelling reason.

Perhaps, you have a difficult boss, co-worker or employee that has challenged you to communicate differently in order to accomplish the goal you both are working toward.  Or maybe it's a difficult child that has made it possible for you to...

Every year around this time, for most of us,  our thoughts turn to what we're thankful for. And also...WHO we're thankful for. Rightfully so, because that's the big reason behind the Thanksgiving holiday.

But how often do we ponder what we're thankful for within ourselves? Let's give it a shot...shall we?

•What is unique about YOU that you are thankful for?

•Name something that you're "good at" and you are thankful for the capability

•What character trait do you have that you are grateful for?

If you are stumped by any of these questions, ask the people around you, what they think. Take some time to consider what you are thankful for within yourself. Please note: This is NOT a selfish use of time. It is valuable time spent building your "Gratitude Muscle." This is just the warm up. Consider it "stretching," if you like. We'll move on to building our "Gratitude Muscle" with others in the next post.