Thankfulness in a thankless society.

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It's Thanksgiving week, and since this will be the only blog for this week, as I will be taking a few days off from writing, I thought I might give you my thoughts on thankfulness and why thankfulness is so vitally important in the world in which we live.

I know that Thanksgiving is the one day we set aside each year to be with family and friends, and to give thanks for those things we are so happy to have in our lives.  I will not bore you with the list of things that I am thankful for this year.  Suffice it to say it is lengthy, but it is a list of things that I try to think about daily and not just once a year.

I was thinking about what I wanted to say today and the thought that kept coming to me was that in the absence of thanks, there can only be regret.  I mean, if you aren't thankful for something then that only leaves you with regret for something that is not present in your life.  Now living with regret is never something I recommend.  In fact, regret is nothing more then a submission to the world's expectation that you can't have what you want.

However, regret is not what I want to focus on today, rather thankfulness. What are you thankful for? Have you voiced this thankfulness recently?  Thankfulness begins with one, but can end with many.  Thankfulness is not predicated upon anyone else but yourself.  I can see others who are thankful and show that thankfulness, but unless I chose to follow suit, their thankfulness is for them and them alone.  I do believe that showing thankfulness is contagious, just like laughter.  So once again, what are you thankful for this time of year?  Are you thankful for the friends you have?  Thankful for the health and prosperity in your life?  Are you thankful that you are able to get up every morning and do something that you love to do?  If you are thankful for these things, when was the last time you said it aloud?  Thankfulness is a lot like fertilizer: it doesn't do much good until you spread it around.  You can think about thankfulness all day long, but until you give voice to it, it is still just a thought.

I wish I had the ability to tell people what to be thankful for.  I don't so trying to pretend is an act of futility.  I know what I am thankful for, and you will have to come to the place where you know what you are thankful for.  Giving thanks is nothing more then saying thank you for those things that come into your life, good, bad and indifferent.  Should we be thankful for those things that we do not choose, but that have chose us?  The answer is yes.  Yes because in all things we can learn and in learning we are moving forward in those things we have been designed to go forward in, thereby fulfilling our destiny.  I am thankful for the difficult times in my life.  Without the difficult how could I appreciate the simple?  Were it not for the bad, I could never appreciate the good.

When we are able to voice our thankfulness we are then setting our self up to receive more.  Have you ever run into those ungrateful little brats who feel as thought the world owes them something?  They don't appreciate what they have simply because they have not had to do anything to get what they want.  There is very little value placed on those things they have because they feel there is a never ending supply of stuff and that they will always be on the receiving end of things.  I try to show thankfulness in all that I do, in all that I get, and all that I am able to understand.  I never want to take things for granted.  I know that blessings follow me, but that doesn't mean that I have to take if for granted.  Thankfulness is next to godliness as far as I'm concerned.  If you will take the time to say a simple thank you for something, how much more is the universe likely to keep heaping blessings on you?  I like the odds of that continuing.

Thanksgiving should be celebrated each day of the year.  Sharing what you are thankful for should be a daily occurrence.  Helping other's discover thankfulness will change lives and this planet. I know how corny it must sound to show that you are thankful, after all it is not something that is common place in this society, but then again, that is why it is so needed right now.  If you are able to be thankful for the little things in life, then you set yourself up to be thankful for the big things as well.  Let thanks be your daily motivation.  Not motivation just to get more, but motivation to help others obtain the things in life that will make them truly thankful and happy.

As we enter the magical holiday season be mindful of those around you.  Reach out to offer words of encouragement.  Words of thanks go a long way, and often mean the most to those in need of a little pick me up from time to time.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and let this be the start of a daily offering of thanks for those things you have been blessed with.