The Everyday Spirit of Thankfulness
Gratefulness allows us to nurture a keener eye
that no longer rushes past the small everyday moments
that make up the larger part of our lives.
Guri Mehta
How wonderful it is to take the spirit of Thanksgiving into every day.
We often go through our lives without noticing the things around us that help to create the setting for our life experience. Most of the items in our home we have chosen because we thought that they would provide comfort or pleasure in some way. Then, they became the backdrop of our daily activities, and we no longer think about them.
I have read many articles suggesting that we make a list of things that we are grateful for. That is a helpful practice. Now I want to take it a step beyond noticing and listing.
Going Deeper
Look around you. Focus on one thing that you are grateful for and think about it. Perhaps there is an interesting story about how it came into your life. Perhaps it belonged to a parent, and it brought with it pleasant memories. Perhaps you have used it in a way that created happy memories for you. Perhaps it makes your life easier or more enjoyable.
As you consider the role it plays in your life, it is not just an item on your list, but an experience of thankfulness. This goes beyond a process of the mind. It engages your heart and deepens your appreciation.
As we engage our inner spirit, we connect with the abundance that we have in our lives beyond the idea of how many things we have and how much they cost.
Family and friends often provide the primary abundance in our lives, bringing love, kindness, joy, support, wisdom, laughter, and so much more. This is the deeper abundance of the heart.
Coming together can be a sustaining, comforting part of our life, which is easy to take for granted.
In many cases, friends become more important than family in our daily lives. We may have more of a heart connection with a friend and share more personal beliefs and values with them than we do with family. When we are fortunate, we have close connections with both.
Stop and take a few moments to reflect on a friend or family member who has recently shown you kindness or for whom you have been kind. Kindness is one of the strongest ways of connecting with another person, whether we are giving or receiving the kindness.
Gratitude When Life is Challenging
Most of us have a vision of more in our lives than what we have right now. It’s good to hold a vision of the next step for our life. It is also important to stay in gratitude for what we have now.
Sometimes life presents us with opportunities to grow and to expand beyond who we thought we were. In challenging times, we often focus on the disappointment we feel and overlook the many things for which we could be grateful, if we just noticed them.
Wayne Dyer said, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
I have found that to be true.
I was the caregiver for both of my parents (separately). That required me to leave a career that Larry and I shared, that I enjoyed and that supported us financially. It was not even a decision. I just knew that it was the next step on my life journey, and I have never regretted it.
That opportunity enabled me to have a closer relationship with both of my parents. As challenging as it was at times, the opportunity to support them when they needed it deepened my connection to each of them.
That time reinforced for me a commitment to appreciate what I have in the moment and not to bemoan what I do not have.
I believe that we live in a circle of giving and receiving. Life shows us when it is a time for giving to someone who needs help, and we can find joy in the giving, without expecting anything in return. Of course, we do receive in so many ways, but that is not why we give.
The time may come when we also need help. In a circle, what goes around does come around to us again. I like this metaphor, because my whole life has demonstrated it – giving and then receiving from another source – and receiving, then later, having an opportunity to give to someone else.
At this moment in my life, I am in the receiving mode, and I have more joy and gratitude than at any other time that I can remember.
Several years ago, I was diagnosed with a progressive neurological condition that has gradually caused me to lose my balance and has altered the functioning of my body below the waist and in my head – resulting in changes in my eyesight, hearing, sense of smell and taste, speaking and also my ability to sing – which I miss. I am also not able to stand unsupported or to walk.
I had a choice – to curse my body or to continue to live in gratitude. It was an easy choice. I have to live with me, and who wants to live with a grump?
Instead of cursing my body, I love and appreciate it.
Instead of bemoaning my life, I live in gratitude:
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for my husband, Larry, who lovingly helps me to navigate in our home and when we go out,
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for our friends, who offer to help whenever I need extra help,
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for my son, David, and his wife and my three granddaughters who live near us,
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for the opportunity to live with joy and love and kindness, despite physical limitations,
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for the passionate work that Larry and I do to spread messages of kindness and to make a positive difference in the world.
This Tuesday, Larry goes to the hospital for a hip replacement. Several friends have rallied to provide transportation for him, to help me with my morning and evening transitions, and to bring me food and their company.
We truly have a lot to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day.
As we continue our journey, we learn new ways to live with more constant gratitude, which provides the foundation on which we build a life of joy.
We wish you love, gratitude and joy in this season of thankfulness, and in your entire life.
Photo by Pro Church Media on Unsplash
Lovely meditation . Thank you. I must not give in to the urge to take what I have for granted. I have a roof over my head and my small house is warm and cozy. I have a ten year old car which still gets me places. I have dear friends who care about and support me.. I could go on and on about the ordinary (extraordinary ) blessings which I enjoy. When I focus on what I have I am filled with gratitude and need nothing more .
Thank you, Barb.
As I sit in front of my computer and look outside the windows at the light, the trees and the birds, I am so grateful that I was for drawn to move here 6 months ago. I was resistant to move, but spirit and God encouraged me to do it. I am surely where I am supposed to be!
I have such abundance in my life in so many ways, that I have decided to stay at home on Thanksgiving alone and be silent and grateful for all I have and for the Native American Indians and their history of cultivating a day of giving thanks.
Sending LOVE, PEACE AND JOY throughout the world.
Thank you, Maggie.
Hi Pat and Larry,
I don’t often see your posts and haven’t read many through to the end. However, this recent post was different and filled with words that resonated with me. I have objects throughout my house that belonged to family members who are no longer living and yes, I feel their love and sometimes presence in those objects. Some would say they are just material possessions yet they bring me comfort and a sense of gratitude.
I hope your holidays will be filled with joy and kindness that will carry into your everyday lives. I wish Larry a speedy recovery with the hip surgery.
See you in the future,
Susan (Richard’s Tucson friend)