This month, in honor of Thanksgiving, many of my Facebook friends have chosen to post a daily sentence or two mentioning something they are grateful for.

I liked the idea behind this challenge, but opted out. Hormonal, with a new baby and two older boys at home, my updates would’ve read something like these:

“I’m thankful that I didn’t smack my sister when she complained about ONLY getting six consecutive hours of sleep last night.”

“I’m thankful that I can walk into the boys’ bedroom without wading through Legos or tripping over laundry. And it only took two time-outs and one Xbox restriction to get the kids to clean up!”

“I’m grateful that the baby let me put him down long enough to take a bathroom break. This time, he actually held off screaming until I sat down.”

I know I’m not the only one who’s found it challenging to focus on life’s blessings this year. It’s been a tough year financially for so many people. We all know someone who’s lost a job or a home, or both. It’s hard not to worry that your family is going to be the next one on the chopping block, especially when the media pelts us with continual stories of tragedy and loss. Personally, I find it all too easy to slip down into negativity and forget that worrying is a choice.

As I heard recently, worrying is a lot like rocking in a rocking chair. It keeps you busy, but gets you nowhere. And I realized something the other day. It’s nearly impossible to worry and be thankful at the same time. I’ve been fretting over so many things—most of them financial issues—that I’ve spent too much time wallowing in my concerns and not enough time being thankful for all the wonderful things that are mine in this life.

A few years ago, talk show host Oprah Winfrey shared how her life had been improved by keeping a gratitude journal. Each day she wrote down five things she was thankful for, and challenged her viewers to do the same. You’d think that someone of Oprah’s fame and fortune wouldn’t need to remind herself all her blessings. But even she felt the need to be mindful and make time in her life for gratitude.

I think that’s what true thanksgiving is about and it isn’t just meant to be experienced on the last Thursday in November. Like my friends who have encouraged me with their little notes of thankfulness this month, it does my heart good to pause and reflect on what I have to be thankful for.

I may live in an old house that often feels like it’s falling apart around us, but my family has a warm, furnished home. My husband might be going through a difficult time at work, but at least he is employed full-time and has a fair amount of job security in this unstable economy.

A few weeks ago, I wasn’t sure I’d be physically well enough to host Thanksgiving dinner. But I’m feeling great and enjoying being back in my kitchen. I’m truly looking forward to cooking all the special treats that are part of my family’s happy holiday memories.

I might not get much sleep anymore, but those wakeful wee hours are spent with the sweetest little 7-week-old baby on the planet. I know someone who will be burying her 2 month old son tomorrow, a beautiful brown-eyed boy who died of a serious heart birth defect. My heart absolutely breaks for that family. Instead of being exasperated by my kids, I need to remember what a gift it is to have three healthy, precious children who make me smile and laugh every single day.

And I hope to somehow instill in them the lesson to be mindful of gratitude, to focus on what they have instead of what they think they’re missing out on. Even when things around us are gray and unstable, a thankful heart is a light of hope that glows in the midst of it all. I’m convinced that learning how to let that light shine is essential to a happy life.