Posts Tagged ‘Thanksgiving’

Gratitude

Saturday, November 19th, 2011

            A few days ago, I received a challenge to write down seven things per day that I am grateful for – a total of forty-nine items for the week. “Easy-peasy!” I thought. But then I had a problem. Where to begin?

            My first thought was to just choose random letters of the alphabet each day and come up with seven items. Since this blog was on my mind, I began with the letter “W”. I am so grateful for the Weekly Writers Workshop where I experience so much love and support. Then there’s Whole Life Center for Spiritual Living, another loving, supportive place. Weight Watchers helps me take care of my health. Then I turned to less tangible thoughts. What a joy to live in this World, to experience Wonder and Work, to strive for Wisdom.

            Next I explored the letter “L”. I thought of the places where I’ve lived most of my life. I grew up and went to school in LaSalle; most of my married life and my career occurred in Lakewood; and now I have lived in Loveland for fifteen years. I rejoice in my discovery of Labyrinths and the ways they have enriched my Life – for which I am also grateful. I give thanks for Love and Light.

            What about the letter “C”? I feel so blessed to live in Colorado. I appreciate the Chilson Center and its offerings for my grandkids. I treasure my association with the Colorado Authors League. And even though I don’t understand them well, I give thanks for Computers and the Changes they have brought into my life. I am grateful for Creativity and Compassion.

            I also explored the letters “G”, “E”, “H”, and “B”. In the process, I have come up with far more than 49 things to be thankful for and I still have 19 letters of the alphabet to go. My joy increases as I contemplate the many blessings of life. I am filled with gratitude as I approach the official day of Thanksgiving.

Holiday Feasts

Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010

Confession time. Last month I missed my turn on the blog. I was supposed to post the Monday before Thanksgiving, but I guess I was having a little too much fun with my son being home from college to remember things like blogs.

Youíd have thought Flash could have stepped in and helped me out, but heís still off in a snit somewhere because Iím writing about a boy named Zach instead of him right now.

Anyway, I was not baking pies and basting turkeys. I was packing my long underwear, hiking boots and polypropylene socks; preparing to drive eight hours to Moab, Utah. For four or five days every year we celebrate Thanksgiving by hiking in Arches National Park and the surrounding area.

We climb to the top of slickrock buttes that look impossible to scale, wade through freezing water in slot canyons, and argue over which wash will take us where we want to go. We stay in dumpy motels and eat our Thanksgiving dinner at Dennyís.

Thatís because we donít need a traditional Thanksgiving feast to make our holiday complete. We feast on togetherness, Godís amazing creation, and adventure. Many people think weíre a little crazy, but we wouldnít trade our annual Moab trips for all the turkey and dressing in the world.

Now itís the Monday before Christmas and Iím packing again. The last two years we left for a vacation on Christmas Day and skipped Christmas dinner, too. This year is a little more traditional. Weíre going to spend three days with extended family. I think weíre eating ham.

Gratitudes

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

Next to Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.† I don't care about the food - any meal is fine wih me.† What I love about Thanksgiving is the "being thankful" part.† My friend Tami Spaulding calls it "gratitudes."† Those little moments of consciously thinking of something to be thankful about.

Earlier this year I purposely read through a series on my shelf, "Small Miracles: Extraordinary Coincidences from Everyday Life," The subsequent adjustment in my attitude of gratitude helped counter balance all the doom and gloom of political warring and economic woes.

I choose an attitude of gratitude

I choose an attitude of gratitude

I am only as happy as I decide to be.† And when I think of all the lovely people who enrich my life, I am a wealthy woman.† To me, success is not in how a bank account mounts up, but how many gratitudes I own.† Stuff like times shared, potlucks thrown together at the last moment, books passed hand to hand, phone calls just to say hello, that special touch that makes me skin tingle ... and some air in my lungs.

Oh yeah.† And I like the crazy-shaped hot air balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. † Must have watched both versions of Miracle on 34th Street too much or something.

I am not naive.† I'm simply pragmatic about choosing my attitude.† Sometimes it is the only thing I have a choice over.