Appreciation, gratitude, and thanksgiving–the motive power
which attracts and magnifies the hidden potentialities of life.~ Ernest Holmes
With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I have been thinking a lot about the power of a grateful heart and the importance of an attitude of gratitude. It begins by becoming aware of what we may be taking for granted. When taking any aspect of life for granted becomes the norm, gratitude gets pushed aside and the exquisite sweetness of the gifts life has already given us (including an unknown, limited amount of time on this amazing planet) goes unnoticed—unappreciated. There’s deep wisdom to be found in the saying “What we see is what we get.”
Some Eastern teachings proclaim we are all born with the “seed potential” of all possibilities and that it’s the seeds we nurture with our energy of focused attention that come to fruition. The principle is simply the Law of Attraction in action: What we focus our attention upon rises in our awareness and becomes part of our experience. I know this is not news for those in the New Thought arena but a reminder at this time of year can be a good thing.
In challenging times, the tendency for many of us is to stare at what appears to be missing—or what’s wrong—rather than the good that lies right in front of us.
To this point, I find value in what Buddhist Monk Thich Nhat Hanh had to say about the power of conscious gratitude when he admonished us to consider when was the last time we gave thanks for a non-toothache. His message is clear: Too often we don’t appreciate what we have until we no longer have it. This is when it’s time to elevate the altitude of our attitude of gratitude!
Some say we are all mystics, but few of us know it. I would embellish that sentiment by saying we are all mystics who fall into ONE of two categories; a “pessi-mystic”, who sees the proverbial glass of life as half empty, or an “opti-mystic”, who sees that same glass as half full. It’s a rather silly play on words, but I bet you get the point. The “half empty or half full glass” metaphor precisely depicts the filter through which many of us see life. The good news is, that we can choose to make this Thanksgiving a mystical experience by mindfully “upping our consciousness”—by becoming the conscious observer of our own thoughts and feelings—and being deeply grateful for the many blessings that life bestows upon us daily; many of which we may be taking for granted. Self-awareness opens the portal to a plethora of blessings we didn’t even know we had—including our metaphorical non-toothaches. Just remember, A.B.C. — Awareness Builds Consciousness. An attitude of gratitude is closer than we might have imagined; just one mystical thought away. This week, work at being an “opti-mystic” and witness how blessed your life already is.
May this be the Thanksgiving that confers and confirms the blessings of a life well worth living upon you and yours.
