Bernie Borges [00:00:00]:
What are you thankful for? This episode drops on November 24, 2025, which is the week of Thanksgiving in the United States. And while Thanksgiving is a US Holiday, I want to recognize that not everyone listening is observing this holiday. In fact, only 68% of the listeners to the Life Fulfilled Podcast are even in the US the rest of you are spread across other parts of the world, including Canada, Europe, Latin America, Asia, even Africa. So, hey, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I want to acknowledge and thank you for being part of the Life Fulfilled Podcast community. I’m Bernie Borges. I am the founder of the Fulfill to Work Academy and your host of the Life Fulfilled Podcast. And if this is your first time tuning in, welcome. I’m glad you’re here, and I hope that you’ll stick around.
Bernie Borges [00:00:57]:
I show up every Monday without fail. And incidentally, this episode is on YouTube. Every episode is on YouTube as well as traditional podcast platforms, in case you didn’t know that. Anyway, back to Thanksgiving. Even if Thanksgiving isn’t on your calendar, this week gives us all a meaningful opportunity to reflect on something that is universal and. And that is the power of being thankful. So today, I’m not going to talk about Thanksgiving traditions. Although, on a personal note, this year, my wife and I will not be spending Thanksgiving with any of our kids or grandkids, because this year, it’s their year, their turn to spend the holiday with their spouse’s family.
Bernie Borges [00:01:45]:
Yes, we have to share our kids and our grandkids with their spouse’s family, but you know what? That’s okay. We’re happy for them. They’re wonderful people. And it is what it is. It’s all good. It’s all good. But anyway, I digress. On this episode, I want to explore thankfulness as a mindset.
Bernie Borges [00:02:05]:
A mindset that has the power to shift how we approach life on a daily basis and lead us to a more fulfilled life. Because this is the Life Fulfilled podcast. So let’s begin with, what does it really mean to be thankful? So let me ask you this. When was the last time that you paused to feel truly thankful, not just for something good that happened, that’s easy, but in a broader, more meaningful way. You see, thankfulness, in many ways, is about how we see the world. It’s sort of like a lens. And when we look through the lens of thankfulness, we start to notice the beauty in the ordinary, the lessons in the struggles. And yes, there’s always a lesson, or more than one lesson in our struggles and also the meaning in our experiences.
Bernie Borges [00:03:03]:
Now, this lens isn’t something that just magically appears during the holiday season. It is something that we can choose to put on every single day. Operative word is choose. So I thought about what’s the difference between thankfulness and gratitude? Isn’t thankfulness just gratitude by another name? So I think it’s a fair question. But actually there is more than a subtle difference. You see, gratitude often comes in response to something like a gift or an act of kindness or a specific moment. Thankfulness, though, is more of an ongoing posture. It’s an attitude that we can live by even when we’re not handed something obvious to be grateful for.
Bernie Borges [00:03:53]:
You could say that gratitude is reactive and that thankfulness is proactive. It’s a daily decision to recognize and and appreciate life just the way it is, even all the messiness. And when we live with that kind of perspective, we open the door to fulfillment. So how does thankfulness lead to fulfillment? Or another way to think about this is how does thankfulness connect to fulfillment? You see, fulfillment isn’t just about chasing big goals or reaching a certain milestone. It’s about how we experience our lives moment to moment. Day by day. Thankfulness grounds us. It shifts our focus from what’s lacking to what’s already present.
Bernie Borges [00:04:45]:
It reminds us that our lives, even with all the imperfections and messiness, are rich with meaning. And research backs this up too. People who practice regular thankfulness report better physical health, deeper relationships, and higher levels of life satisfaction. In other words, when we’re thankful, we’re more fulfilled. See, there’s the connection between thankfulness and fulfillment. Now, I could end this episode right here, but I won’t because I want to share a personal thankfulness reflection story with you. So I grew up in New York, and when it came time for me to go to college, which was a choice, I went to a local community college, which was a public school and very affordable for my parents who were not of money. It was a community college.
Bernie Borges [00:05:42]:
And when I graduated from the community college, I wanted to go on and complete my bachelor’s degree. And I wanted to do that at a private university, specifically Pace University in New York, which is a good school. It’s a well recognized school, mostly known in the New York area. But my parents couldn’t afford the tuition to send me there and I knew that, so I didn’t even ask them. I applied and I got accepted and I was all excited and I told my parents and they immediately said, but wait, wait, wait, we. We can’t afford to do that. And I said no, this is on me, not on you. So I To make a long story short, I got a job, a full time job, and I attended Pace University to complete my bachelor’s degree at night.
Bernie Borges [00:06:33]:
It took me four years. Four years to complete my bachelor’s degree. Now, I had already graduated with an associate’s degree, so I wasn’t starting from scratch. It took me four years just to get the balance. An associate’s degree and a bachelor’s degree. And it’s because I went at night. And it was a sacrifice because I was young. I was in my very early twenties, and all my friends who were in the same age range as me were going out and partying all the time, even after work during the weekdays.
Bernie Borges [00:07:05]:
But me, I was going to class or going home to do homework, and I went to school 12 months a year, including summer sessions. Well, when I completed my bachelor’s degree, the sense of fulfillment was immense. The pride that I gave my parents, who did not have a college education was immense. So while this story may sound like a story of pride and achievement, where thankfulness comes in is that it taught me a huge lesson at an early age. At a young age, it taught me to be thankful for setting an ambitious goal and then making the sacrifice to go do that thing. Achieve that goal. And to this day, I’m thankful that I had that experience. And I’m thankful for the lesson that it taught me.
Bernie Borges [00:08:01]:
So here’s a simple thankfulness practice that you could try this week. Whether you’re celebrating Thanksgiving or not, take five quiet minutes and write down three things that you’re thankful for. Not just the obvious ones, but go beyond the obvious. Look more deeply for the things that taught you something, even if they were difficult at the time, like my college journey. Maybe you had an unexpected career detour that revealed a hidden strength or a new opportunity that you didn’t plan to experience. But you did. And you’re thankful for the turn of events. Or maybe it was a personal challenge that forced you to grow.
Bernie Borges [00:08:44]:
You know what they say, we don’t grow in our comfort zone. We only grow when we get out of our comfort zone. How about just the fact that you’re here now, listening to this podcast, and you’re probably doing other things in your life to invest in your growth and personal development. Be thankful to yourself for that. You see, practicing thankfulness is a gift to yourself. And too many of us don’t prioritize gifts to ourselves because we’re too busy prioritizing others or just too busy. Now. I’m speaking to myself as much as I’m speaking to you when I say that living with an attitude of thankfulness builds the foundation for a fulfilled life because it helps recognize the value of all the moments in life, not just the happy moments, every moment in the journey.
Bernie Borges [00:09:44]:
Have you ever set out on a journey, some journey in life, and when you arrived at your destination, whatever it was, what did you do? You probably reflected on the journey, kind of like I did when I finished my bachelor’s degree. And the more you reflected on the journey, the more you valued the journey and maybe even more than the destination. Again, I’m speaking to myself as much as to you because I. I’m on a journey right now, even at this stage in my life, in my 60s, and I’m cherishing the journey at the time of this recording. It’s mid November 2025, so close to the end of the year, and I didn’t accomplish all that I had hoped to accomplish in 2025. But I’m giving myself permission to reflect on the journey of this year. And when I do this, I can say that I am thankful for many things. And this mindset is what keeps me going.
Bernie Borges [00:10:48]:
In fact, it keeps me focused on my North Star. So no matter where in the world you live or when you’re listening to this, I want to encourage you to reflect not just on what you’re thankful for, but how you’re thankful. Can others experience your thankfulness in your posture and your attitude and the way that you treat others, just in the way that you show up? Fulfillment doesn’t only come from what we achieve. It comes from how deeply we appreciate the life that we already have and that journey to our North Star. Now, if you’ve been through a difficult journey or you’re in a difficult journey now, I want to suggest that you search for and find something that you can be thankful for, whatever it may be. Then amplify it. Celebrate it. Because my prayer for you is that it will give you hope.
Bernie Borges [00:11:50]:
I can genuinely say that I am thankful for you spending this time with me. You inspire me every week to show up with authenticity and purpose. So I wish you a thankful mindset all year long. I wish you fulfillment. Hey, if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with someone. Subscribe. If you’re not subscribed like it, join my newsletter and just stay in touch. And if you want to reach me or contact me, my contact details are in the show notes for this episode.
Bernie Borges [00:12:23]:
I’ll see you on the next episode of the Life Fulfill podcast.
