The Thanksgiving holiday conjures up many different feelings for people. Some are excited to celebrate the day with their family and friends with lovingly cooked meals, passed-down traditions and recipes and a luxuriously long weekend. For others, it brings sadness, loneliness or even pain. And, with the challenges facing our nation, at the macro, group and individual level, some people enter this holiday season feeling disheartened or even hopeless.
Especially during these less-hopeful times, Thanksgiving provides me the perfect opportunity to get centered around all the good there is in the world and in my life. Even in the lowest moments, I can’t help but be present to how my life is overflowing with blessings. I don’t have to turn very far to find the abundant love that fills me up and restores me back to a place of peace and hope. When I open the door to my gratitude, the first thing I notice is “who” is there:
- My husband and children embracing me and cheering me on
- My extended family with all our idiosyncrasies and unbreakable bond
- My awesome partner, Jen, and our entire Convergence team who are pillars of strength
- Our clients with whom we develop cherished relationships
- My friends – whom I talk to regularly and those that span time and distance
- The wonderful people who serve us every day from the Starbuck’s baristas to my hairstylist, the TSA agent to my priest
- And those we don’t see but who silently serve to protect us – in our armed forces, fire and police departments, hospitals, snow plow drivers and more!
Sometimes, I need to start small and be grateful for the little things. Like last night, I was thinking about the two things that I was grateful for that day (a challenge given by my health coach for the month of a November – and a practice to continue all year!). My two things were cold water to drink and the sound of my husband and son snoring in unison in the next room. In that stillness and space of gratitude, the world is right. And, I know there is SO MUCH MORE GOOD than our 24-hour news, social media, water cooler talk, family gossip and doubtful inner dialogue portrays.
Who is there when you open the door of gratitude? Whose gratitude door are you behind? Let’s use this season of thanksgiving to lift and fill each other up with love, strength and joy.
"In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit."
~Albert Schweitzer
Have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving!
Tamera
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