Coach Courtney Peters’ Post

While Thanksgiving is a time to pause and give thanks, it is also a great time to GIVE thanks (as in doing something nice for others)! This Thanksgiving, be sure to stop and think about all you have to be thankful for. And be sure to pass that gratitude on to others through a random act of kindness. Check out our latest blog post to read more https://lnkd.in/gx-fcyXu

Something to Celebrate!!! To celebrate is to commemorate something worthy of acknowledging. What cause do you have to celebrate?   #1 Start with gratitude. What do you have to be grateful for?  #2 Consider celebrating those who have helped you today, this week, this past month, this past year, or those who have supported you.  #3 Celebrate what you have achieved over the years, and the obstacles you have overcome, or celebrate that today is a new day and you get to start fresh and new!  There is always something and or someone to celebrate. When we acknowledge those people and those things in our lives, we etch in our brains and bodies that life is happening in a good way. We feel the sensation of goodness, happiness, and joy. Our body stores these emotions and when we recall those celebratory moments, we can feel them all over again! Which can then be a driving force to repeated encounters and or behaviors that lead to more celebratory moments.

The holiday we call Thanksgiving is coming up in a few days. The season of thanks is a wonderful opportunity to do something very simple yet very powerful: ~ to give thanks Sound good to you? If you want a couple of "to do" items, here are two that occur to me: 1. What are you thankful for? What gifts have you been given in your life? When is the last time you have said a prayer of thanks? 2. Who are you thankful for? Who has been a gift to you in your life? When is the last time you thanked them? Doing these simple things could help change the world. Give it a try this week. And beyond.

As a challenger brand we're firm believers in the power of product sampling. Last week, to celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Day, Cameron McKenzie-Wilde and Florence Allen were out spreading the word with free pints of Gosnells Hazy in pubs. It's a simple but effect activity - we're confident in the quality of our product, and our experience shows that when people get a taste, 8 out of 10 choose us again. It's labour intensive (and doesn't scale that easily) but 'liquid to lips' sampling significantly boosts the rate of sale in outlets. It's a testament to the effectiveness of letting the product speak for itself. I'm curious about other strategies that we could employ. What activation methods have you seen or experienced that encouraged you to try something new in a pub setting?

Thanksgiving is complicated. For many of us, it’s a time to gather, reflect, and share gratitude. But the truth is, this holiday is rooted in colonization and harm to Indigenous peoples. We can’t ignore that if we’re serious about creating spaces of respect and accountability. So, how can we honor Indigenous communities and show up differently this Thanksgiving? Here are a few ways to start: 1. Educate Yourself and Your Guests: Learn the real history of Thanksgiving and share it with those around you. Native-led organizations like the Native American Rights Fund and IllumiNative offer valuable resources to guide these conversations. 2. Support Indigenous Communities: Donate to initiatives like the Land Back Movement or shop from Indigenous-owned businesses. It’s a small step that makes a big impact. 3. Acknowledge the Land: Take time to learn about the Native peoples who originally lived on the land you’re on. Use tools like the Native Land Map to incorporate land acknowledgments into your gathering. 4. Center Indigenous Voices: Share books, films, or media created by Indigenous people as part of your traditions. Listen to and uplift their stories. 5. Reframe Gratitude: Make your celebration about giving back, honoring resilience, and building community rooted in truth. Thanksgiving can be more than a meal. It’s an opportunity to reflect on the past, honor the resilience of Indigenous peoples, and commit to showing up differently. This year, let’s move beyond gratitude and focus on accountability and respect.

My graditude journey. As I look back over the past year, I’m reminded of the importance of showing up and holding myself accountable for my own growth. Facing myself hasn’t always been easy—leaning into fear, learning from failures, and letting go of insecurities. But through it all, I’ve learned how powerful it is to feel good in my own skin and truly trust myself. Now, I know that whatever I set out to do, I am capable. Every connection I make, I know I’m worthy of someone’s time and energy. But getting here hasn’t been a simple journey. Building self-love and self-trust is hard work. It takes courage to confront insecurities and commit to nurturing yourself. It’s easy to use insecurity as an excuse, but I’ve learned that self-love is the real recipe for success. When you believe in your worth, you’re unstoppable. Here’s to the journey of self-discovery, growth, and embracing our full potential. With gratitude,

How is it that we claim to be good human beings, engaging in acts of kindness and generosity? I see corporate posters proclaiming their commitment to "doing great things" every day. Yet here we are, at the year-end festivities, inundated with joyful celebrations splashed across social media. Meanwhile, a real-time genocide unfolds before our eyes. How can we indulge in festive cakes and puddings while babies are starving because there’s no milk or formula to feed them? How is it that amidst the hustle of buying Christmas gifts, our brothers and sisters struggle to find clean water, a pair of shoes, a roof over their heads, or even a simple aspirin for pain relief? Let’s take a moment to reflect on our actions in contrast to the suffering around us. How do we reconcile our celebrations with the harsh realities faced by so many? It’s a call to examine our priorities and extend our humanity beyond our immediate circles, to remember that true compassion requires awareness and action, not just good intentions.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, if you celebrate! I’m Umatilla and I celebrate Thanksgiving with my Mom and family who are white. So, before we go around the table and say what we’re thankful for, there is space for me to give a land acknowledgement. I had been thinking all day about land acknowledgements and calling attention to the atrocities forced upon the people to whom this land rightfully belongs. For white folks, having this mirror held up in front of you could elicit guilt or shame. I’ve been thinking a lot about white guilt lately, especially after the election, and how white guilt doesn’t actually do anything or help anyone. When we’re coming from a place of guilt or shame, we shut down or close off. I’m a procrastinator and usually the one thing keeping me from taking action is the shame of not having done so in the first place. Or maybe you do take action. Perhaps you make a donation because the shame triggers your distress response and your brain wants to solve the problem–not the systemic problem, but the problem of feeling this negative emotion. I was thinking about how we can navigate these feelings of guilt and shame to actually make a lasting impact. When we come from a place of empathy and compassion, we feel more open and we can get more creative in how we can solve a problem. When we come from a place of power, as in “I understand my power and I’m here to share it” the question goes from “how can I fix this feeling of shame” to “how can I help?” You might think "Oh! I have a beach house that I don’t use in the off season and I could offer it as an artist residency to an Indigenous artist!" Or "I have this plot in a community garden, maybe I could give that as part of a land-back action." When you can shift from the guilt and shame that’s keeping you closed off to the possibilities of how to participate in community in a meaningful way, and shift to empathy and compassion and humanness and gratitude–gratitude for the land we’re on–you can be more present in the action that you’re taking. And it will feel good. The pain of that guilt and shame will go away as a result. Our thoughts create our emotions, so a thought like “I’m bad for being white. I’m bad for the things my ancestors did”, is going to create the emotions that impede our ability to participate in community openly. This is what isolates us. But a thought like “I have power, I have resources, and I can share that, how can I help?” is going to generate a very different emotion and make the experience of participating in giving more impactful for those receiving AND ourselves. I don’t think the purpose of a Land Acknowledgement is to elicit guilt and shame. I think it’s to name that your experience is not happening in a vacuum. You are participating in a community, however you got here, and since you’re here now, you may as well open yourself up and get connected with the land and with Indigenous people. I am glad to be in community with you. Truly.

Undoubtedly one of the most sacred family holidays and celebrations across the United States and Canada, Thanksgiving is closer than we think. This special time to reflect on the bounty of the previous year brings warmth and gratitude as families reunite with one another. And if you’re already planning your Thanksgiving celebration this year, one aspect you don’t want to overlook is getting the right Thanksgiving appreciation gifts. Check out the blog following the link below! https://hubs.la/Q02W4gHL0 #TotallyChocolate #PersonalizedGifts #CustomChocolate #Thanksgiving #Blogger

What are you grateful for today? Let's start a waterfall of gratitude in this thread. I can't wait to read your replies!