Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Thanksgiving Weekend

Count your blessings and give thanks - though I believe that this should be a daily process, I also enjoy a weekend that has created a time for us to be especially aware of how truly blessed our lives are.

As a farmer's daughter, and later a farmer's wife it was easy to see the abundance at this time of year. Cereal crops were being harvested and vegetables from the garden were gathered, canned, frozen or put into cold storage. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing results after months of tending and nurturing.

I only have to think about the golden grain pouring into the hopper, to remember, not just the hard work it took, but also a feeling of joy and gratitude for mother nature's part in bringing an abundant harvest. Her gentle rain, warm sunshine, the lightening and the brillance of the full moon night's all created perfect conditions for growth.

These past few years have not been so perfect, and more often than not  farmers have felt cheated. I am sorry. Sorry for their feelings of futility, but even more sorry, that they cannot let it go and give thanks for the experience and for whatever crop was produced. When we lose gratitude, we lose abundance. It goes full circle.

The same is true in our lives. It is not enough to be grateful for only perfection in our lives. We must also show appreciation for the smallest of gestures, the sadness and pain. In our failures we find the seeds of success, the strength of survival, the anticipation of a new opportunity. In sickness, we can create health and in sorrow we learn the true appreciation of joy. When we learn to be thankful for the worst, we find our way toward inner peace, joy and love. Without the opposites of life we could never truly be grateful for the good. It would all be taken for granted, the depth of the moment lost in the sameness of yesterday.

Thanksgiving weekend is not only an opportunity for us to give thanks for the past year's blessing and harvest. It is also a time for us to give thanks for that which is still to come. This year take time to be grateful for all the good you know is on it's way to you right now, tommorow, and in a month from now. Plant the seeds of gratitude today, so that the harvest you reap tommorow will reflect joy and acceptance of the abundance you deserve.

I want each of you reading this to know how much I appreciate you. Thank you for friendship, support, honesty, integrity, love, nurturing, being a shoulder to lean on and a wise council. Thank you for being unique and inspiring in all you do. Thank you for being a part of my life, whether we have ever met or not. Thank you for all you give to this planet, your family and friends, coworkers and strangers. Each contribution you make to creating a life of joy, love, peace and prosperity lifts us all. You are a blessing!