Power in Presence and Gratitude

Watch the episode here:

• Hear how Thanksgiving shaped my mindset on gratitude and presence.
• Learn how to turn off the noise and just enjoy the moment.
• Discover how simple joys—like Uno or pumpkin pie—can create lifelong happiness.
• Understand how being present is the gateway to practicing gratitude daily.
• Get inspired to make this Thanksgiving (and every day) about more than just a meal.

Hey, I’m Rick Jordan. Today, we’re going all in. I’ve been thinking about Thanksgiving this year, and Thanksgiving is actually historically my favorite holiday. I think back to when I was young and both of my parents never cooked, really much at all. Now, my dad could cook, but he didn’t do much. I don’t really know why, but my mom, nope, not a cooker. I mean, the extent of her stuff was like spaghetti and meatballs, using Ragu as a sauce. And when it would come to Thanksgiving, we would always go somewhere. And typically speaking, it would be one of two places, or two places. The one Thanksgiving that I remember all the time would be my Uncle Arden and Aunt Barbs, and that’s pretty much my entire memory of Thanksgiving going over there. They would set up these big, long tables, and it was always interesting, because he was always the adult at one, and anybody else experienced this, it was always like the adults at one, and we didn’t have a kid’s table, so so to speak. But as you would go from the head of the table down at the foot of the table, the age of the people there, you know, like 20 to 30 people would progressively get younger until you got all the way down to the youngest kids at the end. And one thing that was cool, though, is that I remember them actually always having Welch’s grape juice, because the adults were drinking wine, real wine, and they would always have Walter’s grape juice. 

And I just fell in love with that stuff, because we would always have and feel like we were participating with the adults and everything that they would do. But it was always a fun time. And I’ve got such fond memories of Thanksgiving and really, because I would just have time with my cousins, and it would just be a time to hang out and be with family and forget about anything else going on in the world at that time. Yeah, no matter what it is, I realize that trust me, I get it. You know, I was like, 10 years old, 12 years old, but even getting to the point of being 15, 1618, years old, even after my dad passed when I was 16, I’d still go over there for Thanksgiving, and it was still very much the same to the regard that it just didn’t matter. It’s like life got put on pause for a few hours. And I would just hang out with my cousins, you know, hang out with my aunt and uncle. I tell you, I learned to play Uno when I was there. That was a big thing that they would do after the meal was done, is that everybody would play Uno. And as I got to the point to where I could function pretty well in the game, you know, like 1314, 15 years old. And I actually started beating the adults at this. That’s when they’re like, Yeah, you can play, no problem. So then that was a lot of fun. I tell you my aunt Barb’s pumpkin pie. Wow, oh my goodness. 

Just freaking amazing. If you can’t tell, I have very good memories, very fond memories, of Thanksgiving. And it really, when I take a look at it holistically, is because you just didn’t care about anything else at that period of time, no matter what was going on. And still, I can see that to this day, is that I just don’t think about much of life or problems or even good things that are happening that I have to do the next day or the week after the holiday weekend, the long holiday weekend, you just don’t think about it on those days, you know. And Christmas, I still would, because it’s like Christmas, it’s kind of like you go back the next day, the 26th of December, you know, for those who don’t take it off, it’s like business is still going and things towards the end of the year. I mean, whether it was me working in corporate America, or me owning a company, or being the CEO of the public company that I am right now. Business still happens on the 26th you know, things just seem to get rushed right back into things after Christmas, even during that short time period of those four or five days, whatever it is leading up to New Year’s. But Thanksgiving, that Friday. There are not many people, at least in the groups that I’ve been around, that are working that day on Black Friday, or there’s really nothing going on over the weekends. It’s just this extended period to not have to worry. And if you think about it that way, and I want to encourage you to think about it this way this year, because when I said it’s an extended period of not having to worry. What exactly is Thanksgiving? It’s a time to be grateful. It’s like the opposite of worry. And there’s a reason it exists. And what I want you to do this year is to allow that space today, allow that space today to just let everything kind of melt away, at least for today. 

That’s it. Just for just for one day. Maybe you can extend it to the weekend. But there could be something magical with this that you might be able to figure out. Because as you start to look around like I look back and I’m thankful for the time with my cousins, that’s when I was first introduced to Star Wars. No joke. Was at their house on Thanksgiving. I was maybe nine or 10 years old. I remember the first Star Wars movie I ever watched was Empire Strikes Back. I remember really getting into music, you know, mainstream music, with my cousin Jeff, because we would go out. I’m talking, you know, when was I 1019? 89 Nine so, you know, I remember him putting on the journey, you know. And that was quite literally the very first CD that I ever bought was, was journey, because of my cousin, because I’m just hanging out in his room. We were about a year apart or so, and he put on the music. I’m like, Man, this stuff is really freaking awesome, you know. And then, of course, I got into nirvana and everything else after that, but that was just a magical time period to not worry about anything and just the Hangouts and just to be thankful, naturally thankful for what was happening at that moment right there. 

And of course, people talk about it looking back and saying, oh, what would are you grateful for this year? What’s going on in your life? That’s grateful, and that’s grateful, and that’s fine if you want to do that, but I’m asking you to just be simple. That’s it because it’s very easy. Christmas is even easier because, like I said, you go back into the 26th the next day, and it’s like, right back into the swing of things, right? Thanksgiving, you’ve got this extra time, and it’s very easy to just let this blow by and just have it be another day, you know, just like a couple of family members or friends or whatever, getting together for dinner, and that’s really it, and that’s all that you’re doing, but let this be a time today to where you’re just able to sit and worry about nothing, because everything is still going to be there. I mean, that’s the beauty of life, right? Is that everything is still going to be there? Nothing tragic really happens on Thanksgiving, unless you’re talking about deep Friar fires and all that, which happen every single year. Have you seen those videos? I’m going to chase a squirrel on this one, but they’re kind of crazy. You know, some of these individuals that obviously that’s not a good Thanksgiving, and they have some things to worry about, right? But why would you do that inside a garage? Come on. Come on. Now. So for those of you who aren’t deep frying a turkey inside of an enclosed structure, today is the day to just let go of everything that was the day before, not think about the stuff that’s going to be the day after or the week after, and just to sit around and look around and be like, I’m just gonna sit here and enjoy the moments because this is something today to where you could probably start to make this some kind of a practice for yourself. I know people talk about practicing gratitude and everything, but what if it’s even simpler than that? What if being thankful could just be in the moment? What if being in the moment is the thing that can allow you the pathway to gratitude? I hope you heard me on that man, what if just being in the moment and enjoying the moment is the thing that is the door to the way to gratitude? That’s what it was for me, you know. And who knows? Maybe you’re like, You’re nuts. Rick, I you know, I don’t care. Try it and see what happens. I think that’s powerful because it’s something that can be repeated every single day that you want it to happen. How often are you in a scenario where there are really good things going on around you? You might be on a date, or you might be hanging out with one of your kids who you love dearly. You might be hanging out with friends, but at the same time, there’s a bunch of other stuff that’s still just running through your mind. And I get it, there’s pressures of life, you know, there’s a lot going on.

You know, even though this year was an election year, some people, I’m sure, have PTSD from that, like they do every single election year, it’s still this year. Doesn’t matter if it’s now or doesn’t matter if it’s 10 days from now or 10 months from now, or three years from now. What if that’s really the secret we’re being present in the moment, just enjoying that moment is the way for you to end up being happy and thankful and grateful. To me, it seems pretty natural. That’s why I think back. And there are probably moments where you can think back to to where maybe you were with family, like I was right. I can go back to Thanksgiving and have those great memories. But I’m betting you that there’s at least one, you know, probably more like 50, but just find one that you can think of to where you just sat there and it didn’t matter what else was going on in your life. You were just there to be there. That’s simple, that’s pressureless, that’s a way to head on the road to being thankful, to jump on that path to being grateful is just being there and allowing the moment to unfold, and being present there so that there’s nothing else on your mind. And then once you start to look around, I’m going to tell you, I mean, I can visualize it in my brain right now. I don’t know if you can. When you look around, you can start to see smiles on people’s faces, because everybody else is doing it right. They’re sitting there and they’re making jokes, or maybe they’re making fun of each other. I mean, Thanksgiving is always fun for that. You know, sometimes there are even arguments, but even if there are arguments at a holiday dinner that has to do with family, which happen, you know, frequently, I know they do. Everybody tells me stories about this stuff. They happen that’s fine. Just take a look at it and be like,

That’s freaking funny, you know because they’re so passionate about that at the moment. But here we are, and there’s nothing else that matters at this moment. None of that stuff that they’re even arguing about affects anything right now in this moment, because it’s a time just to come together and to whether you’re playing uno as I did, whether you’re having Welch’s grape juice, like I did, whether you’re enjoying your aunt’s pumpkin pie like I did, or just listening to journey for the first time, whatever it is, you can look around and be like, this is a good moment. And notice what you feel when that happens. Man, I’m thankful for this moment. And then that can lead to even more things that you can think of, because this is something that you can do not just on one day a year, but when you’re present in that moment and not allowing your brain to just continuously compound things, no matter what everything else is. This is something where you can detach yourself from your worry in that moment. It’s not that those things aren’t real. It’s not that they don’t need attention. It’s not that they are not serious matters that you have going on. It’s just in the moment when you’re with the people that you love, be there in the moment with the people that you love, and watch what that does to how you feel. Watch what that does to your level of happiness, and watch what that does to your level of being thanked a Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy your time today, whatever that is, enjoy the moments, because I bet you, you’re going to have several of them today, and then carry that into any other day that you want to feel this good way.