13 quotes about gratitude that are perfect for Thanksgiving 2020

In a year where the holidays may look very different than years past, it's important to focus on what we have to be grateful for.

Whether you read these 13 quotes from our TODAY Parenting Team community at your Thanksgiving dinner table or spend time alone quietly contemplating what you're grateful for, we hope they will inspire.

1. "Gratitude comes in all shapes and sizes. It can be lofty or ordinary. It is, I think, just a realization, however fleeting, of the joy of a moment and the feeling of loving and being loved."

- Cameron Poynter

2. "Being human in 2020 has been devastating and goodness is still here. Yes, even here. And for that, I am grateful."

- Jillian Benfield

3. "With gratitude we say 'thank you' to friends and neighbors for kind words of encouragement, simple smiles, a wave while walking the neighborhood. For FaceTime cocktail hours and for an outpouring of love: We are blessed."

- Ali Flynn

4. "The gratitude I have for life is hard to explain ... to watch it go on and on each day never ceases to amaze me."

- Jessica Watson

5. "This Thanksgiving, I want to be grateful for my health like someone who’s just beaten cancer. Grateful for my home like someone who’s been sleeping on the streets. Grateful for the air I breathe like someone who’s just come off a ventilator. Grateful for the freedoms of democracy like someone who’s lived in a country without freedom. And most of all, in a year where, to date, 254,000 families have an empty chair at their Thanksgiving tables from a virus we didn’t know existed a year ago, I want to be grateful for the people I love like someone who’s buried their loved ones."

- Julie Miley Schlegel

6. "The whole concept of taking a day to be truly thankful for the blessings in our lives — well, that’s something worth celebrating."

- Cynthia Yanof

7. "Owning your gifts is another way of saying, 'This is me. I know who I am, and I am grateful for this chance to be myself.' And when you do that, you make room for the people around you to accept the whole of themselves, too."

- Melissa Camara Wilkins

8. "(I am) remembering those that created the memories of Thanksgiving past, grateful for those creating the memories of Thanksgiving present and hopeful for our children who will create the memories of Thanksgiving future."

- Shannon Armenis

9. "As we approach a Thanksgiving that looks so different from Thanksgivings in the past, let’s not forget those who are on the bottom of the pyramid wondering where their next meal will come from ... As a society, we all do better when we all do better."

- Julie Miley Schlegel

Related: The couple found a fun way to celebrate with their family.

10. "I have never once felt alone as I’ve dealt with the parental, social and financial ramifications of COVID-19. Instead, I have felt supported and loved and understood and, perhaps most importantly, I have been able to provide the same to other working moms during this time, too."

- Katya Libin

11. "To the moms and mother-in-laws everywhere, but especially to mine, thank you. I couldn't do motherhood without you."

- Nicole Merritt

12. "In March, life took a 180 and all of a sudden us parents had to manage a balancing act that seemed nearly impossible. However, we were gifted an abundance of time: Time that taught us to slow down, look around and savor our family unit."

- Nadine Bubeck

13. "Dear mamas, I hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving, no matter where you spend it and who you spend it with. I know that even if you feel a little lost right now, gratitude will guide you home, too."

- Megan Tavares