Daily Inspiration 11-23-14

THANKSgiving Week Thoughts 

"So once in every year, we throng 

Upon a day apart, 

To praise the Lord with feast and song 

In thankfulness of heart." 

-- Arthur Guiterman 

To so many, Thanksgiving is a time to get together with family, some of which we may only see once a year at events like this holiday. It's a time to share being grateful for one another, enjoy the fruits of our labors by creating a feast that is easily five times what we would normally cook for a meal. It is a day set apart for giving thanks.

To others, it is a day of dread. They may not have family, or family that cares. They may be poor and have no feasting plans. They may be lost and feel alone. There are organizations and people who try to alleviate some of this like The Salvation Army, Local Shelters, Anthony Robbins Foundation, and many more with volunteers from all walks of life.

To some, it is an obligation. It is an expectation. And that is often mixed in smaller and larger doses to the whole mix.

I've always disliked the obligation aspect of this and so I focus on the word thanks. I do that because regardless of what our individual circumstances, there are things we can be thankful for, and even if we are not known as a grateful person, we might go along with the spirit of this holiday and express our thankfulness for any and all things we could find that we are or could be thankful for.

So, for this 7-day period of Thanksgiving week beginning today, I will focus on finding ways, things, people, events, circumstances, and more to be thankful for.

There are so many things that we simply take for granted that if we thought about them from a different perspective, we could find waves of gratitude. In recent years I have become such a grateful person and I see things, people, and circumstances every hour of every single day now that used to pass my glazed over eyes. Now I see them, and I think that this began with a desire to be a grateful person. I remember reading so clearly the first time in the Bible to "give thanks in all things." It didn't say some things, or once a year, but all things and that would be all the time.

Day one of this week's THANKSgiving Week Thought message is just that: Choose to be a grateful person. Regardless of your religious beliefs, or even whether you have any at all, that Bible quote to give thanks in all things is as valid and effective and true. Decide today. Try it for just one week. I guarantee you will never go back.


"If The Only Prayer You Said In Your Whole Life Was, 'Thank You,' That Would Suffice." --Meister Eckhart 

Spread Some Joy Today--by making a list of things you are grateful for. You will need a large binder.