Thoughts

3 min read

Pause, appreciate and be grateful

Thoughts

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    EVORA

We are so happy that we’ve recently opened a new office in New York. We’ve got a great team out there and wanted to show our support and appreciation for our EVORA family across the pond. We were inspired by Thanksgiving and took it a step further, making both November and December gratitude months at EVORA.

Kicking off in November, we started by looking at the science behind gratitude and how changing to a positive mindset and saying thanks can positively impact our life. We followed this up with creating thank you card templates for people to use. It felt great to send and receive these, backing up the science that showing gratitude increases personal wellbeing and happiness. We also found out that being grateful can improve your immunity, help you sleep better, and even lower your blood pressure!

During the middle of the month we heard from our US colleagues how they traditionally celebrate Thanksgiving. It was heartwarming to hear how Yetsuh and his family have a tradition to invite “strays” that might be far from home, or have a limited social circle, to join their Thanksgiving dinner. Yanna also had a similar experience one year where a Thanksgiving dinner had around 60 people, brining what they could, be that food, decorations, or just their stories and cheer.

By the time Thanksgiving rolled around, we were definitely in the swing of saying thanks. We built a word cloud that anyone could add to. It was humbling to see the breadth of things we are thankful for, from the big topics like modern medicine, family, and food, to things like coffee and having a blanket for those chilly mornings in the office.

Good health was something that was discussed at length this month in the office. Tom was spearheading Movember in the office, shining a light at men’s health, both mental and physical. Tom and a few other guys in the office would give regular moustache update, growing some brilliant tashes and raising funds. Huge congrats to them all, they raised £624 in one month.

One of the ways we supported was a gingerbread decorating competition in the London office, while we were all wearing stuck on moustaches. It was great to take a moment out of our busy days tobe creative decorating our gingerbread with moustaches and lots of icing, all while having a laugh and raising money. There were some brilliant entries – the Super Mario and Luigi gingerbread was brilliant. That evening, we also did a pizza and games night to help fundraise too.

As we move into December, with Christmas activities in full swing, it’s easy to see how giving thanks is a major part of the season. We are encouraging everyone to take a moment to say thanks to friends and family through a gesture.

I’m grateful to my housemates – we are like a family, and always support each other. To show my thanks, I baked them a cake. It was so nice to sit down with them with a slice and a cuppa tea and say thanks for their support.

It’s amazing that such a small phrase can have such a huge impact on both yourself and the people you are thankful for.

Thank you for reading! Who will you pass the thanks on to next?