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Thanks

I originally intended to publish a different topic this week but at the last moment I realized this is Thanksgiving week and the topic I had planned was not in harmony with the season.

I admit I have been preoccupied with my own problems lately, so much so I have neglected to consider all the blessings I currently have. I guess this is the way us human beings think, which is we get so caught up in ourselves we neglect what is truly and really important. We let our own egos get in the way of our humanity and by doing so we allow ourselves to miss out on the great things life has to offer.

We may not have much, our bank account may be dry, but this is only superficial, something we can work on and remedy over time. Our self-absorption with our problems becomes so great we neglect life and the magnificent event just daily living can be. In my blog this week I talk about challenges versus problems and how our very thoughts can change our way of looking at the issues which face us. It's worth a read and I pray it helps you just as much as it helped me when I wrote it.

We are approaching the holiday season which includes all the stress we associate with it. But I purpose a different scenario this year, instead of letting stress be our guide this season, why not just sit back and say to ourselves: Self this year I am going to enjoy each day that comes and I'm going to let tomorrow worry about itself. Self, this year take time to enjoy the season, enjoy the smells, the environment, even the madness. Then find a bench, kick back and observe all the other insanity transpire around you. And as the tempers flare and the masses follow each other into the pits of despair and mayhem, you sit and consider all the blessing you have this Thanksgiving season. Then calmly go about your task, whatever that may be, realizing the calmness you feel.

Pushing, shoving, stress, mayhem in general may affect the masses, but they have not read what you have read: these words of encouragement. Words which I really believe my Muse is helping me write.

Rudeness can inflict others but not you, for you have an inner peace which calms your spirit. But this cannot happen unless you yourself allow it to. It takes discipline to control your inner self, not much mind you, but some. The trick to controlling your inner self is to be truly thankful for all you have, no matter how little that may be. True thanks to Divine Providence will travel the universe and reach it's destination wherever that may be in the infinite environment. That spirit ,direct from the heart, is what matters, not Black Friday, crowded parking lots, or midnight madness. The spirit of true thanks provides an inner calm this day, and every day, or any day you want. For you and you alone control the environment known as self.

Sometimes this is not easy, in fact it can be extremely difficult if not down right impossible. But nothing is impossible I have discovered. We may not know how to do something, or know how to control our inner spirit, but that's a far cry from being impossible. No, the starting place is with thanks, a simple thank you to Divine Providence becomes the starting line of all self-discipline. It's no more complicated than that.

This Thanksgiving remember all the good things that have happened to you this year. This includes the very small things like the smile of your children, the kiss from your spouse, and even the movie that gave you inspiration and a smile. Small things mean everything, all we have to do is remember them.

For me, personally I give thanks that I live in the greatest country in the world. With all our problems, all the corruption, and all the idiotic policy that emanates from all corners of the country, it is still the only place I would ever live. I give thanks for my family, our shelter, and our health. I give thanks for all the little things I have received over the past year, but I especially give thanks for all the challenges, disappointments, fears, and self-doubts I have received. For each negative has provided for me a valuable lesson in humility and the thought "I'll never do that again!"

We are put on this earth to provide service, compassion, and encouragement to our fellow man, but that doesn't mean we can't help ourselves in the process. Forgetting the political issues that affect us all, we need to focus this season on the one element we can control directly and immediately - Ourselves.

I read a post from Marelisa (you can find her link on the Motivation Page) who told a story of a man whose life was heading for the dumpster. He made a goal for himself to write 365 thank you notes over the course of the year, one every day. Within the year his life had done a 180 and appeared to be on the fast track to success. Now I don't have the recipients for 365 thank you notes so I decided to do something a little different.

When it became apparent that I needed to focus on thanks, for my own peace of mind, I decided that I am going to write a thank you note to Divine Providence every morning before I start work. Nothing fancy, no more than two or three sentences at most. But to give a heart-felt thanks for all I have received and the opportunities that will present themselves during the course of the day. Am I being selfish, thinking about my problems and asking for help? Maybe, that's up to Divine Providence to determine. All I know is all my life I have been focused on me, me, and me. It is way past time to place my focus elsewhere.

This Thanksgiving season started off with a focus on me, but a revelation of sorts woke me up to change this weeks' write-up to these words, words I can share with you. What you do with them is completely up to you. So I want to leave you with this final thought, which you can consider a warning: Life is like a boomerang, what you throw out, in someway, at sometime, will come back to either haunt you, or help you. The choice... is yours.

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