A Grateful Heart Can Change Your Life - Happy Thanksgiving, Y'all

*This transcript was auto-generated*

Kim Gravel: Coming up on the Kim Gravel show, this is a true story. And Amy, I wish she was here to tell it. So when we were broke, this was Thanksgiving.

Opening Introduction: Let's just go on and spill the tea. This is The Kim Gravel Show. This is one of the realest persons I've ever met in my darn life. You gotta watch this. My mission is to encourage every single woman, we're here to lift y'all up. There's no one more effective than moms. You mess with the bull. You going to get the horns. I need coffee. I need Jesus and I need therapy. If you can bring a smile to people's faces, why would you not? We love our kids. We love our husbands. What a blessing. We're gonna dedicate this to you in finding your superpower. Okay girl. True confidence is knowing who you are and why you're here.

Kim Gravel: Hey y'all, Kim Gravel here, and this is the Kim Gravel Show. Let me just say, Happy Thanksgiving. It's Thanksgiving.

Zac Miller: Happy Thanksgiving, Kim!

Kim Gravel: Do you call it turkey day?

Zac Miller: Turkey day.

Kim Gravel: Let me tell you something, y'all. I love me a good turkey. I brine my turkey 48 hours before I put that bird in the oven. Do you know what brining is, Zac?

Zac Miller: Um, no, but I'm just gonna ask. I have a lot of questions. Are you buying, like, so you're, you're defrosting the turkey, which takes days, right? And then you brine the turkey. So you're like seven days out, you're starting this process, it sounds like.

Kim Gravel: It's, it's, the, the bird has been loved on for a good five, six days.

It is the, it is, it is my specialty. So I buy a great brine, I soak it for 48 hours, and then I cook it slow and low. Butter, garlic. Herbs, you know, we're stuffing that bad boy full of onions. I mean, and you, you can actually, all that's left of the turkey at the end of Thanksgiving is the bone marrow.

That's it. So happy Thanksgiving, everybody. We wanted to come in and just say, we love you so much. And we're so grateful for you. You know, being a listener of this podcast, being a friend of this podcast and Zac and I over the years, but, Zac, I wanted to have a show talking about a grateful heart, being grateful.

I mean, it's the day of Thanksgiving is the day to be thankful for all of our many blessings. The actual definitions of gratitude means the quality of being thankful. The quality of being thankful, readiness to show appreciation for and return kindness. I like that. The quality of being thankful. I like that.

Zac Miller: It's funny. We talk about gratitude, you know, just I think more and more and I think it's this really powerful thing. It is and that's sort of what we were talking about as we you know before the camera was rolling Just like how powerful it can be which which is super cool

Kim Gravel: Yeah, and I mean, I mean it's scientific.

It's been it's been scientifically proven that When you are grateful Something larger happens within your, not only you, your mental, but your chemical makeup too, you know, and, and having this grateful heart can change so many things. I want to read this to you. I want to read this to you. Well, you had something to read first, didn't you?

Zac Miller: So, so we, we started, we started talking about being grateful and gratitude and like, you know me, like I went down like this nerd rabbit hole and like ended up at Harvard Medical School. Of course you did. So I'm, I'm on their website and I'm like looking at all this stuff, right? Professor Zac, you know, make all your jokes that you want, but let me, let me read the way that Harvard Medical School defines gratitude because they've done a lot of research on this.

And I found a bunch of studies that actually. you know, help to prove how powerful gratitude and being grateful can be. But, what they say is gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives. And with gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives. So it's not about like how much I have.

It's about like, what is around me that I'm grateful for? What are the exterior things? So the result is that being grateful helps you connect to something larger, whether that's like a higher power, like God, nature, other people, your community. So it, it helps us bind everything. And I think that is so, you know, for lack of a better word, great.

Right. And something that. As we're like, I don't know about you, but, we always like go around the Thanksgiving table, right? And we say something we're grateful for. And like, my kids are always like, Oh, I don't know, ice cream. And you know, that's fine.

Kim Gravel: Well, that's true. Don't, don't, don't despise that.

That's good. I'm thankful for ice cream.

Zac Miller: But no, but seriously, like, I always have trouble with that. I don't know about you. Like, does, is, is it? What do you say? What will you say if you're going around the table right now? What are you grateful for?

Kim Gravel: Oh, I'm so grateful for so many things. For this podcast, for the, the, the precious people who listen to it and support us.

Uh, my family sometimes. That's a joke. My kids. Most of the time. No, I just, there's so many things, but I was looking down the rabbit hole of TikTok Don't judge me, okay? And I saw this I saw this, this preacher talking about how we are so anxiety written. Stay with me. Okay. Because I'm going somewhere with this.

He was talking about how we have such anxiety. In, in our lives today, kids, young people, old people, you know, middle aged, stay at home. Moms working, you know, CEOs, all of this, like everybody is so hyper anxious these days. And he was preaching and he was teaching to a congregation and he said, it's The antidote to that, the, the fix to that anxiety is being grateful.

And I was like, what? I mean, seriously, like I was like, he was like, the opposite of anxiety is grateful. And you would think the opposite of anxiety would be what?

Zac Miller: Oh man, the opposite of anxiety. Calm. Peace. Yeah, it would be calm, would be, yeah. Or, or like confidence, right? Something like that we talk about a lot.

Kim Gravel: So it was like, Yeah, but he was saying the, the antidote. Is that, is that the right word? The antidote that the antidote, the medicine for anxiety is to be grateful. And I was thinking about that. And I was like, I don't know. I don't know. You know me. I'm always questioning and always going, what does that mean?

And so I looked. It up. You know, I was just in, in, in having my quiet time and I was reading my scripture and I came across the scripture in Philippians. It's Philippians four, six through seven. Listen to this act. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving.

Present your request to God.

Dang. So let me read it again. Do not be anxious about anything. Don't worry about anything, but in every situation, even all your anxious situations by prayer and petition, meaning you're praying, you're asking with Thanksgiving. So we're not, we're not praying and we're not petitioning and complaint or worry.

Or anxiety, we're presenting these prayers, these petitions, these needs, these wants, these desires with a grateful heart with Thanksgiving. That's how we're presenting our requests to God. I was like, the appraiser was right. Because honestly, if you're sitting here going, I'm worried about this. I'm worried about this.

I'm worried about this. Oh, gosh, what if this happens? What is it? Because all anxiety is, is just fear wrapped in a, you know, you know, like pig in a blanket wrapped in a good piece of, you know, something soft. That's all anxiety is. But when you are thankful or grateful and you remember the times that, A, God has shown up for you, or your problems have worked themselves out, or the blessing has come, or you got through a hard situation, it's hard to remain in that anxious state.

That makes complete sense, right? So I'm sitting here going, and I could, like, my kid's driving, Zac, like, you know, Beau's driving, he's, he's never home. I mean, it's like, I mean, he, he went from like, sitting at home in his room to never at home. I mean, he has hit the streets three or four nights a week. I'm going out with my friends, I'm going to play Pokeball, I'm going to eat, I'm like, oh my God, who are you?

Now you've become me, an extrovert. And that's all you guys fight. So, like, but I'm always worried. I'm always anxious. I'm always anxious. And then I start saying, okay, God, thank you for this. And it just goes away. It does. It just melts away.

Zac Miller: So, wait, okay. So I have a question about this because this, this is another one of those things that's like really easy to say, but really hard to do. Of course. You're, you're bringing your prayers to God and you're doing it with thanksgiving. Like you're, you're saying, like, how? It's weird, right? How do you get in that mindset of thankfulness and of gratitude?

Kim Gravel: Because Zac, you've got to remember when he's shown up for you in the past. When you have all these prayers and petitions and needs. You got to remember, like, Amy, Amy wanted, okay, I'm just gonna tell you a little story to give me an example. So, when we were broke, Amy and I were best friends, and she had just bought her first house, of course, a mile from Travis and I.

And she needed a washer and dryer, but she didn't have two nickels to rub together. She spent every penny she had as a single woman on this house. And she was like, I just don't know how I'm gonna get a washer and dryer. Now, that sounds like first world problems, because you can go down to the laundromat.

But there was not a laundromat near us, and she wanted a washer and dryer. And so she's like, I don't have any money. I don't have any money. And you know, I would have give her a washing dryer. I'd have had no money. So nobody had money to go buy a washer and dryer. She said, well, I could put it on, you know, my credit card.

You know, I said, we can do that. And you know, they were what, 2, 000 for a nice set. What have you. This was Thanksgiving. It was the holidays. This is a true story. And Amy, I wish she was here to tell it. I said, Amy, God's never let you down. I mean, you even bought this house. You got the down payment. I mean, you know, it was a big sacrifice when you buy your first home, especially as being single.

We're riding through my neighborhood. True story. I will never forget this as long as I live. And we turn the corner to go down to my cul de sac. And sitting on the side of the road in the neighborhood.

Zac Miller: Come on. I knew you were going to say that.

Kim Gravel: Shut up. Ture story. All right. I'm telling you there was a white washer and dryer set with a big sign on it.

That said works perfectly free. Take them. Wow, I said, I mean, like, I'm freaking out. She pulls over. I hop out. I sit on them because I'm afraid of anybody drives by. So help me God. Amy has that washer and dryer today.

Zac Miller: No way. Come on.

Kim Gravel: Today. It's beautiful. So I, when we all, when Amy and I are getting in these anxiety driven moments with our business or with what have you, I'm going to have a shipment from, you know, Columbia is not going to make it or whatever, whatever we're trying to, you know, bring in from, from, you know, overseas from, you know, with product or what have you, we always say.

Washer and dryer.

Zac Miller: Oh, that's so great. That's how we are thankful. That's such a great shorthand. Yeah, I love that. Washer, dryer.

Kim Gravel: Washer, dryer. So I think that's what it's saying in the scripture that when you come to him with your, with your prayers and you come with, to him with, in your, with your needs.

Always do it with Thanksgiving because he's always provided. Mm.

Zac Miller: Ooh, that's really deep, Kim.

Kim Gravel: And what happens is we forget. We forget. That's what we gotta remember.

Zac Miller: Can I hit you with just like, can I hit you with one research study that I found about, I'd love to hear it.

Kim Gravel: Does that prove my point?

Is it proven my point here?

Zac Miller: It totally proves, yeah, no, this totally prove your point. But this, this one is the one I I, I looked like four or five different studies. This one is the one that really stuck out to me 'cause it was like really interesting. So. This Ivy League researcher at UPenn was testing the impact of all sorts of different positive psychology interventions, just like basically asking hundreds of students to do different things and then trying to figure out like how it made them feel, right?

And it turns out, when he had them write and personally deliver a letter of gratitude, to someone who had never been properly thanked for his or her kindness, they immediately exhibited a huge increase in their happiness scores, and that impact was greater than any other intervention they did. So just the power of thanking someone properly, like writing it down and thanking them, is one of the most, like, healthiest, best things you can do for your own happiness.

Which is amazing.

Kim Gravel: Isn't that, it's so simple.

Zac Miller: It's so simple. And how many, when was the last time you delivered like a handwritten thank you? Maybe you do. I feel like maybe you're a handwritten thank you note person.

Kim Gravel: I used to be. I'm not as, I'm not as diligent about it as I used to be. I can work on that.

Zac Miller: Yeah, I you know,

Kim Gravel: I do a lot of text.

Zac Miller: Yeah, you know, I'm gonna say that's that's handwritten. That's that's thumb thumb written.

Kim Gravel: I do You know honest to God I've got I think I've got arthritis in this finger from holding the phone I hold it like this A wholeness and I'm holding it so tight. I think I've got, something wrong with my finger now because of it.

I've got, you know, how people say tech neck. I got tech finger, but yeah, I text, I text a lot of people, but I will tell you, I agree with that study and I'm telling you. If you, and not just going, I'm thankful for my family, I'm talking about really think of the moments in your life where someone or God has really shown up for you.

Zac Miller: Like relive them. I think the thing that you're probably doing with Amy when you say washer and dryer is you're reliving that moment when you saw that and it felt like or was a miracle for you.

Kim Gravel: It was a miracle. And it was, it was, it was, it was not, it was not even a need. It was a want. It was something that was just, it was a little thing.

And a lot of times the little things go unthanked and they're big things, you know, in the changing of the trajectory of our lives. It's, it's sometimes the little things that we've got to stop and say, gosh, I'm so, I'm so grateful that the gas prices went down. I'm so grateful that. I've been able to really get my eating under control and lose the weight that two decades I couldn't lose.

Oh God, Zac, I'm so grateful for that, you know? And a lot of times I think, We are always saying, what can we do to be better when we just need to be grateful for how far we've come?

Zac Miller: Wow. So, what should we do this Thanksgiving then, Kim? How can, how can the, the folks who are gonna sit down this evening, if you're listening to this, the day this show comes out on Thanksgiving, What can they do with their families, with their friends, you know, or if you're, you know, alone, which some people are,

Kim Gravel: I'd say, I'd say you thank your family.

Thank your friends, you know, speak into their lives, but take this day, take this Thanksgiving season and get still and get quiet and remember your washer and dryer moment because you've got them any needs or wants prayers or petitions that you have speak them out with Thanksgiving. And take those petitions with a grateful heart, you know, and, and watch your life really level up because I know times are tough and I always say this life is hard.

God is good and people are crazy, but at the end of the day, it's that grateful heart that gets you to the next level. So Really just take some time and remember all the great generous Beautiful things that have happened in your life and speak them out with a grateful heart and watch your life change I love you so much.

I'm grateful for you for listening. Zac, aren't you aren't you grateful for everybody?

Zac Miller: I love all of our listeners, all of our viewers, the people that support this show because this, this has grown for us into such a, such a blessing, like really, it's just, I, every day I take moments where I'm like, wow, I'm honestly living the dream.

Like I never thought that I would basically be, you know, on this successful show with you, Kim. And it's one of the coolest, like most amazing things that in my life. So that's really what I'm grateful for.

Kim Gravel: Same. And I'm grateful for you, Zac. And I'm grateful for everybody listening. And we love you so much.

Have a beautiful, blessed Thanksgiving. And always remember, remember the things that you are grateful for and be thankful that, We're all on this journey in life together. I love you so much. Mwah! Happy Thanksgiving!

Zac Miller: Love y'all. Happy Thanksgiving!

Kim Gravel: Hey y'all! Kim Gravel here. This is the Kim Gravel Show.

Let me just start by saying, Happy Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksgiving! It is Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Let me start over because I had a little crick in my throat.

Zac Miller: Okay. Also, wait.

Kim Gravel: Alright. Well, that's talking some turkey.

Zac Miller: That's talking turkey.

You had to get that in there! I love that. I love it. That was great. We did it! That was great!

Kim Gravel: The Kim Gravel Show is produced and edited by Zac Miller at Uncommon Audio. Our associate producer is Kathleen Grant, the Brunette Exec. Production help from Emily Bredin and Sara Noto.

Our cover art is designed by Sanaz Huber at Memarian Creative and Mike Kligerman Edits the show and a special thanks to the team at QVC. Head over to kimgravelshow.com and sign up for our mailing list. Again, we can't do this without you, so thank you for listening, and we love you.