Happy Thanksgiving to all our Amerian friends. Giving thanks, is practicing "gratitude" which science is confirming makes us much happier whiolst we do it as well as for days after. Certainly worth doing more than once a year. However the history of Thanksgiving and a gratitude meditation follow.
For Americans Thanksgiving is often more important than Christmas. It is held on the 4th Thursday in November every year. Families and friends will often cross the country to enable them to be together to give thanks and express gratitude for the material a hopefully spiritual wealth. It;s a public holiday and most businesses close on the Friday following thus giving people a 4 day weekend.
Traditionally the meal is Turkey with all the trimmings, including pumpkin pie. Many towns and cities hold Parades which also mark the start of the Christmas Shopping Season. The equivalent in the UK is the celebration of the Harvest known as Harvest Festival which takes place at the end of September when the Harvest is in. Often though the farms are still busy ploughing for next year and Harvest Suppers (when the farmer hosts a supper for those who helped bring in the harvest) can often be held right into December. e end of September. Where I live in Dorest the whole village usually gets together to celebrate. Whereas in the UK Christmas is the family time.
Gratitude - this exercise can be done as a meditative exercise or you can do it physically, whichever works best for you because this is your time to help you feel good about you. It is so easy to think about what is so called “wrong” in your life, especially now in 2020, but thinking about the good things is much more rewarding. If you must compare yourself to others, then do so to those less fortunate than yourself. Also reflecting on your day gives your brain a chance to sort things through and aids a much better nights sleep. The best time to do this is at night before you go to sleep but anytime, is good. Making time for just a few seconds during your day, especially when worried about something, will change how you feel and make you feel more hopeful and at peace with yourself. See Here for a free downloadable version
Give yourself a couple of minutes to focus on your breathing and to settle and to let the worries of the day dissipate. Relax and begin to focus on your day. When you got up in the morning. How did you feel? relaxed, refreshed, or worried and stressed already?
Start to go through your day, from first thing in the morning, the comfortable bed you woke up in, your breakfast, the cloths in your wardrobe. The noise made by your family or the silence. As you get ready for your day, the things you have planned or the fact you have a whole day in which you can do anything you wish. What did you choose to do? There are things we need to do and others we choose to do, be grateful for them all and for having the choice.
You may be worried about your finances, so if you have one be grateful for your work, if not be grateful for having the time to focus on what you would really like to do. You may be worried about your health, what action can you take to feel better?
Is the sun shining, did you go for a walk in the sunshine? Or stay in the warm away from the rain? There are so many little things in life you can be grateful for. Did anyone smile at you today, or did you bring a ray of sunshine to someone else’s life with a smile or a joke.
Think about all your positive qualities, the loving acts of kindness you have done in your life. Whether others notice or not is irrelevant, they are positive aspects of yourself. Remember a time you felt loved and loving. Remember times when you have felt compassion. Remember when you have overcome obstacles and look back and see what you have achieved today and in your life.
Think about your favourite place, the memories of the good things and be grateful for each and everyone. Be grateful for those whom you support and those who support you. Be grateful for the life you have. The fact that you can hear the birds sing, you can watch a sunset, you can walk, run, laugh, speak. However tough life might be there is always something, however small, you can focus on and be grateful for.
Take as long as you wish, after all you are a divine being having an experience of a human lifetime. You are here to experience and be happy. What makes you happy? Notice and make a commitment to yourself to do a bit more of it each day. The seeds of joy are within you so plant a few and nurture them. Spend as much time as you wish feeling grateful. Thanking your God, yourself, your friends, family, acquaintances and strangers.
You never know that smile you gave someone today may have given them strength and purpose whilst the smile given to you today can do the same for you, even when you smile at yourself and perhaps some of the things you have done today. Good or bad, tomorrow is another day. The sun has gone or will go down today, and it will come up tomorrow, whether you can see it or not, it is always there, as are those good qualities within you, ready and waiting, to bring joy and comfort. You don’t have to be superman, woman, mother, child, friend, boss, or employee, all you have to do is be you and to be grateful for who you are.
Thanksgiving History
For the history of Thanksgiving in America see https://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/history-of-thanksgiving