Happy Thanksgiving - What Are You Thankful For?

Thanksgiving is this week, and so I thought “What a wonderful blog this could be!” I did some research into the history of Thanksgiving … Finding stories of the European settlers and how they shared good bounty with the Native Americans; honoring the wealth of the harvest and the work achieved throughout the course of the year. It made me consider my own “harvest” and what I’ve achieved in the past 12 months.

But … this blog isn’t about me tooting my own horn (at least not all the time), so I’m not going to do that. Instead, I would like to turn the mirror around so it forces you to see yourself; to honor all that is about you and the grandeur of your life in a manner of thanksgiving. Stay with me for this – it’s more than what you think.

Have you looked at your reflection in the mirror today? If you have, then you have the wonderful gift of sight. Be thankful for it, as it gives you the ability to see such wondrous colors and forms – brilliant gardens and night skies, shades of red, yellow, blue ... It is also the adjunct to another form of sight you have – the third eye. Would you be able to understand the images that flash through this sense had you been born blind? I don’t know … But I am thankful to have my sight, as it has led to many epiphanies regarding images I see from sources outside the mundane (Okay, yes, I’m tooting my own horn again). Think of times that you have received a visual message – a hello, a warning, whatever – through that image in the mind, then ask yourself would it had been so possible without having the experience of normal sight? What a gift.

You could do this for hearing, too. What a dull, lifeless planet this would be if I could not hear the roar of the ocean … or the music of chimes in the wind, or the voice of my sweetheart. How would your world be if sound had no meaning and silence was your song? Without voice, could you talk to yourself? What would you hear inside your ethereal ears? How could you think words if you had never heard them to begin with? (Which, in some cases, doesn’t seem like such a bad thing.) Yet, thankfully, because of hearing, you are able to capture that voice which calls to you – not from the cellphone glued to your hip – but from that special voice when it tells you of danger, or congratulates you on a job well done.

Yes, we could apply thankfulness to all our senses. They do, in a way, guide us into understanding our own intuitive abilities. The psychic senses cannot be fully understood without first knowing our original five. When we begin to heighten our awareness of the normal senses, we can then become attuned with what our supernormal senses are telling us; we can have a better grasp of what colors, forms, shapes, tastes, smells, and feelings are telling us as they emerge from the void into the knowingness of our psychic beings. To that, the body is a wonderful instrument and teacher, and for that, I choose to stuff it with lots of food later this week! But seriously, we all too often take our five senses for granted, without realizing the huge role they play in not just our ordinary lives, but also our extra-ordinary talents and gifts.

More so than that, when the combination of these senses can be tuned to the betterment of others, that is truly something to be thankful for. It’s one thing to have abilities and use them to your own advantage, it’s another to use them in an act of service. To serve – to give of yourself – is an honor, and it is with enormous thanks and gratitude to the one desiring your service that such love flows. That friends, relatives, and sometimes complete strangers call upon your character, knowledge, and skills, is a testimony to something special about you within. And instead of it being a stroke of the ego, it really is a cause to be humble, for we all are great, powerful, wonderful beings. When someone requests of your skills, talents, and character, it is as if the greatness of God – for the person is an aspect of such glory – has chosen not to go within themselves for a solution, but instead has trusted you and garnered faith in you to help supply their needs. That is truly an awesome gift. Think of this when co-workers have asked you throughout the year to help them on projects, to brainstorm, to lend a helping hand. Think of this when customers have chosen to do business with you. Think of this when your significant other plants a warm kiss on your lips. They have given you the gift of their trust and faith – something so incredibly awesome, it is humbling to the spirit.

Then there’s also thanks to those that have helped in your own growth. As you have helped others, so too, others have given of their time, energy, and wisdom, and you have benefited. Would you have risen to the next level without others’ support? Would you have gained new knowledge, skills, and talents throughout the year without the efforts of someone else to guide you or inspire you? Professional speakers, trainers, authors, store clerks, friends and family … The people who put together that audio CD you listen to in the car that helps you curb negativism and think more positively … The list could be endless. Again, when you look at so many contributors to your life, you cannot help but be humbled. The “I am” of you could be perceived as the summation of various parts of others’ gifts that you have accepted into your being. To them, the vast contributors of such wealth and wisdom, I will toast a big glass of wine this holiday!

There is so much to be thankful for. When you begin to shine the lights of acknowledgement onto all those things that make your existence possible – the wonders of your body, being, the amazing knowledge, talents, and giving nature of others into your life – it exposes a map where the roads all lead: love. No, this isn’t romantic love, or possessive love, but it is expressive and most definitely expansive. Call it the love of the universe, the love of God, whatever suits you, but the reality is the same – the ability to gather unto your spirit all the necessities of forming a life worth living. It is joyous. It is stupendous. It is – by the very definition of the word – miraculous.

All this giving and receiving that we do amongst ourselves, both on a personal level and a social societal level, is a gift for this planet. Or at least, it can be (When we’re choosing not to blow each other up or limit another’s life experiences). So this week, on Thanksgiving, please take a moment to reflect upon everything and everyone that has contributed to the vast amount of air within your expanding balloon of conscious existence in the universe. You are beautiful because of all those that have given unto you, and additionally because of all you have given unto others.

Thank you for sharing your beauty with me in reading this blog.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!