So it’s a little early for Thanksgiving but I think it’s safe to say giving thanks is a year-round activity. Increasingly we’ve grown to expect we will receive everything we want as a matter of course with little or no effort. Maybe we believe we’re entitled to it or that we’re owed something. But this kind of thinking causes a huge problem not only in our lives but also the way we are in the world. Demanding and expecting is not the same as receiving and giving thanks. Becoming endless takers without giving anything back, not even a simple thank you, takes something essential away from us.
It’s not that we shouldn’t get what we want but it is important to distinguish between what our soul craves versus collecting just another thing we temporarily or misguidedly desire. When we do receive, big or small, it’s important to give thanks to the things that’ve lead us to what it is we truly desire. It may sound funny being thankful to circumstances and synchronicities as well as people, but the truth is the key to receiving is being sincerely thankful for all of it.
Practice until it becomes a habit. Think about some of the things rarely given a second thought, like hot showers and healthy meals, the silence of falling snow and clear mornings. There is a noticeable shift that happens when we become consciously thankful for our good fortune, it multiplies. Suddenly it seems everywhere we are showered with what the mind, body, and soul needs. I’ll give you a hint, it was always there, we just didn’t notice.
A friend calls when we need them, what we’ve been searching for appears, the rain stops for the hike. Maybe we land our dream job, travel to an exotic country, or buy the home of our dreams. It can go on like this forever. But it is necessary to do our part and that begins with saying a sincere thank you for all we do have and honoring all the gifts that flood our lives on a daily basis. It takes us noticing and appreciating to complete the cycle of giving and receiving.
You and I have won the lottery, to be, do, and say what we feel. Let’s not forget the millions of people in poverty and subjugation that would give anything to have what we do right now. That deserves a hallelujah kind of thank you. Take a minute and think about all the beautiful people, things, and circumstances that are already in your life and let the energy and power of sincere thankfulness and gratitude reach each out to each of them.
We may not know the intricate workings of our inner and outer worlds, but we can send out the light of sincere thankfulness and see our world shift.
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