The Power of Thanks/Giving

With Thanksgiving upon us, I’m seeing tons of ads for Black Friday.  “Sale! Sale! Sale!”  “Buy! Buy! Buy!”

This is the time of year when people line up at 5 in the morning, just to pick up some ginormous flatscreen TV.  This is the time of year that feeds a never-ending appetite for stuff.  There’s no diet that can kill that ravenous hunger. Unless….

Unless we start to appreciate what we already have.  I was cleaning out a room in my house the other day, and it gave me a chance to notice things like my wonderful collection of books, the wall hanging my sister made me out of one of our grandmother’s quilts, the beautiful Maxfield Parrish print that makes me smile, the comfy love seat that my cat sleeps on while I read.  It made me happy.

Sheryl Crow once sang, “It’s not having what you want, its wanting what you got.”  Appreciating what we have  brings a certain sense of peace.  And ironically, it changes the energy, allowing “more” to flow into our life.  I think it’s because, when we constantly want for more stuff, love, money, whatever, the underlying message is “lack.”  We magnify that thought when we remain unsatisfied — but when we FEEL rich, that feeling also gets amped up.

It also helps to look at the blessing that a bad experience or challenge offers: adversity can offer us a gift if we look for it.  When I was 19, I ran across a saying in my Philosophy class (don’t ALL 19 year olds take Philosophy?) that stayed with me: “What doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger.”  Nietzche may have had plenty of issues, but he got it right with that observation.  Turn your dark moments inside out and find the hidden gem within.

Anyway, stop right now and count your blessings.  Literally.  Make every day one where you “give thanks” for everything that’s going right in your life.  Notice what happens after just a week or so. That flatscreen may not be so appealing after all.