Hey friends,

As we head into Thanksgiving here in the United States, I’m reminded of what it means to appreciate life and its contents. Like you, I have so much to be grateful for, but oftentimes, I gloss over them as them as the fog of responsibilities and to-do’s pile on top of my plate. Routine and acclimation are the greatest foes of gratitude, and I’m not impervious to their pull either.

So in an attempt to remind myself of all that I have, I created a story a few years ago that I’d like to share with you again today. I like to revisit it around this time, as it contains a thought experiment that instantly reboots my capacity for gratitude the moment I read it.

When you're ready, let's dive right in:

​How to Be Thankful for Your Life with One Simple Reset​

An Illustrated Gift

One of the things I’m most thankful for is your readership. As a small token of gratitude, I wanted to send you some wallpapers you can download and use in the spirit of Thanksgiving.

To grab the wallpapers, simply visit this Dropbox link and download them all. I hope they convey at least a fraction of the warmth I feel knowing that I have your support. Thank you again - it means the world.

A Thought I’ve Been Pondering

I've been working on a piece about shame, and how to think through its dissolution. I'll be publishing it in December, but I wanted to share an early excerpt here:

The antidote to shame is self-love, and it is only through this internal force where true empowerment is possible. You don’t change for the better because other people make you feel inadequate; no, you do it because you respect yourself. When you build off a foundation of self-love, then everything that results comes from a deeply authentic place.

The key is to remember that self-love doesn’t mean complacency. Nor does it mean lethargy. If anything, loving yourself requires a lot of work, primarily because when you have self-love, you become aware of the potential that lives within you. You understand that you’re not a mere summation of social expectations, but that you have the personal agency to be the best version of yourself.

Self-love isn’t the presence of narcissism, but the absence of criticism. The person that aggrandizes himself is secretly seeking the approval of others, which makes him vulnerable to what people think. But the person that has compassion for herself builds a quiet confidence that requires no other voice to be validated. And it is on this frontier of acceptance where one meets the end of shame.

A Brief Parting Question

What's something you have now that a past version of yourself could only dream of having?

I'll go first: this newsletter, and the incredibly thoughtful readership that's been cultivated through it.

When I view it this way, I'm instantly grateful for what I have now, and aspire to not lose sight of that.

What about you?

As always, hit reply to share any thoughts, to respond to the parting question, or to simply say hello. I love hearing from you.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to share this email with anyone who might enjoy it. Have a great rest of your week!

-Lawrence Yeo

P.S. Thanks to JayEm Cee, Manuel Diaz Colodrero, iloveferrets, and Waqas Ali for adding your support on Patreon! It means so much. If you’d like to support More To That and get access to exclusive AMAs, offline posts, and other reflections, join as a patron today.