Happy Thanksgiving!

A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues. ~Cicero

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving. ~W.T. Purkiser

 

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. ~Melody Beattie

 Today is Thansgiving, a day when we come together with friends and/or family and celebrate by eating. We travel miles away or just down the road to gather together in celebration. Some people absolutely love this holiday while others see it as the countdown to another holiday. Already stress is mounting over what needs to be done, what gifts to purchase, figuring out how to make sure everyone has something. Somewhere in the hustle and bussel we neglect to truly reflect what this holiday truly means. And in the midst of it all, some of us loose our thankfulness and find that we have more regret. November and December by all accounts hae proven to be two of the most stressful and unhappiest months when in fact it should be a time for reflective celebration of family, faith and friends.

It is my hope that as I go about my day that I stop and take time to truly exemplify the true meaning of "thanksgiving". No, I might not have what I would love to eat on today or have enough money to spend on Black Friday or get stressed because things aren't going as planned, but I because of my thankfulness I realize I have all that I truly need. It is so easy to get caught up in moment of the holiday and forget the real meaning or the spirit of Thanksgiving Day. The song writer wrote, "Everyday is a day of thanksgiving, God's been so good to me, everyday He's blessing me.", and it's true, everyday we should be thankful for the good, the bad and the ugly because they all have their purpose in our lives. I ran across a great quote, it's quite simple, but very powerful, "God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?" [William A. Ward]. It's so easy to complain about things in life, to only focus on the negative and neglect to see all the blessings around us.

My challenge to you, who ever you are reading this entry, for just one day, see the positive in every situation. And throughout the day, jot down everything you should be thankful for, big or small and at the end of the day you'll be astonished how many things you have on your list. Just as easy as it is to focus on the negative it's also very easy to focus on the positive. I wish you a Happy & Safe Thanksgiving!

Until next time, keep living, loving, laughing and learning!

UGLYFirst