Thanks Giving

Buddha said, “Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.”

Gratitude is something that is all too often overlooked in our busy modern lives.  We rush from one job to the next, one appointment to another; rush the kids to practice or recital, then home again for dinner.  The television and internet bombard us with the next new gadget that we can’t possibly live without.  We compare our lives and possessions to the Jones’s, and never seem to have enough time or money to fulfill our ambitious dreams.

In a society based on commercial materialism, it is no wonder we have forgotten how to be thankful.  We have strayed so far from our attitude of gratitude, in fact, that we have had to create a special holiday just to remind us to give thanks!  Honestly, how many of us would ever stop to think about all the wonderful things in our lives even once each year if it weren’t for the holidays to remind us?

It has been proven that having a grateful attitude can improve your overall health and happiness.  When we take a moment each day to reflect on what an awesome life we lead, we are opening our hearts and minds to a positive outcome in the future. 

Nothing is more powerful than gratitude.  Even love, our most treasured emotion, has its roots planted deep in the soil of gratitude.  Without gratitude for what we have and who we are, we would cease to lead a meaningful life.  One could even argue that we would cease to exist at all.  What good is something that has no value?

My challenge to you is this:

Create an attitude of gratitude, today and every day!  Take a moment each morning to think of five things you are thankful for that day.  Appreciate the beauty in your life and imagine what the world might be like without all the wonderful things you are thankful for.  You may offer up a smile of thanks to yourself, your family, your god, or your dog... whoever you feel most grateful to that day.