Folowing are the topics used in CrossFit Alanis’s Faith In Fitness Saturday Workout & Fellowship 11/2025. After the workout, athlete’s joined in the conversation while stretching, recovering and foam rolling the body parts that gave it everything they had! We had a great number of attendees who, as well as those athletes that could not make it, requested that I share the questions that led to such a powerful conversation. Use these prompts to really get your gratitude juices flowing again, and therefore, take action! Let your loved ones know how much you appreciate them. Schedule a time to volunteer in your community. Offer your service to strangers. You’ll feel drawn to act – JUST DO IT!
Section 1: Personal Reflection on the Past Year
These questions focus on identifying and acknowledging sources of gratitude, both obvious and unexpected, from the year past.
- The Unexpected Gift: Beyond the easy things (health, family), what is one challenge or setback you experienced this year that you are now unexpectedly grateful for, and why?
- Small Mercies: What is a small, mundane, or often-overlooked daily element of your life (e.g., a quiet morning, a reliable object, a specific routine) that brings you genuine peace or joy right now?
- Reframing the Narrative: When was a time recently that you caught yourself complaining or focusing on lack, and how did shifting your perspective to one of gratitude change that moment or day?
- Learning Through Struggle: What is one hard lesson learned in the last twelve months that has helped you grow, and for which you now feel a sense of appreciation?
Section 2: Expressing Gratitude in Action
These questions move beyond internal feelings to the outward expression and cultivation of gratitude within our communities.
- The Gap Between Feeling and Doing: How do you move past simply feeling grateful to actively expressing that gratitude to the people who need to hear it? What holds you back from doing so more often?
- Fellowship Appreciation: Think of one person within this fellowship/group whose presence, support, or action this year has made a tangible difference in your life. What specifically are you thankful for regarding them? (We encourage direct, respectful sharing, but only if comfortable.)
- Service as Gratitude: How can acts of service—whether volunteering, helping a neighbor, or supporting a cause—be a demonstration of gratitude for the resources and abilities we possess?
- The Thanksgiving Expectation: How does the pressure or high expectations of the Thanksgiving holiday (family dynamics, hosting stress, consumerism) sometimes make it harder to feel simple, genuine gratitude?
Section 3: Future Practice and Cultivation
These questions focus on integrating gratitude as a sustainable, year-round practice.
- Sustainable Habits: What is one small, manageable daily habit (e.g., journaling, mental check-in, thank-you notes) related to gratitude that you could realistically commit to starting today?
- Teaching Gratitude: If you were to teach a young person one essential truth about gratitude, what would that truth be, and what is the best way to model it for them?
- Gratitude and Contentment: How is genuine gratitude connected to contentment, and how can cultivating one help you manage the desire for more?
- Closing Thought: As we enter this season, what is the single most important thing you want to remember or carry forward regarding the gift of gratitude?
