Are you grateful? Do you cultivate an attitude of gratitude?
Day 1: I am thankful for snuggling.
Day 3: I am thankful for recovering from cancer and for all of the doctors, nurses, fammily and friends who made that possible.
Day 6: I am thankful for love.
Day 8: I am thankful for avocados, catching up with old friends, and my dog.
Day 11: I am thankful for possibility, adventure and fun.
Day 12: I am thankful for being me.
Thanksgiving is often a holiday that gets glossed over and lost between the fun and escapist energy of Halloween and the over-commercialized retail push that has defined the Christmas season in the American culture. You can’t turn on the tv or radio without being bombarded with it. Yet Thanksgiving may be one of the most important holidays in our culture.
Despite your religious views, Thanksgiving is all-inclusive. There is no dogma. There are no rules, save giving thanks. It is a time to look at everything you have and stop chasing after what you do not have. Thanksgiving has the potential to change the way we are as a society. Imagine: if everyone looked at life from the perspective of abundance instead of from lack, what kind of world would we live in?
This may sound very Pollyanna to the pessimists, but it works. I am cultivating an attitude of gratitude. My husband and I constantly remind each other of what we HAVE, and this practice is leading us to want less and less. We are downsizing, cleaning out the cabinets, and simplifying our lives.
And we are finding happiness.
Do you know what to call unexpressed gratitude? Ingratitude.
Stop hoarding your thanks this year and express your gratitude for what you hold dear. There is no need to wait until Thanksgiving. Life is happening now, and a life filled with gratitude sparkles.
