It's funny, I feel like it's New Year's Eve...
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and a new "year" of giving thanks starts ;-)
I am not sure what to write that can do justice to the concept of Thanksgiving.
Lately, I feel that words are limited by our ability to interpret them, and by our ability to compose them, and they come so woefully short of the magnitude of feelings.
Gratitude, like happiness, is talked about more and more these days.
Words and more words filling the air waves. Words are easy.
And, I see some roll their eyes at the thought... "Words are easy" and they assume that maybe it will end there.
But words come from thoughts
and thoughts can lead to actions
and actions lead to results and beliefs.
So, unless you are next to me, where I may be able to convey my gratitude in other ways, words are all we've got...
I speak a lot about harmony and about gratitude, in part because I feel like these concepts are under represented in our narrative, and in our conversations.
I speak about them because I know their tremendous impact on ourselves and those around us.
I speak about them because I myself forget to act on them and own them in so many moments.
I am convinced that speaking leads to behaving and behaving leads to believing and believing leads to living.
I fail every day, in many moments, to be grateful.
But,
I fail less often than I used to...
I am not only more conscious of gratitude, I am not only acting more on gratitude, but I am feeling more grateful...
And, that is transformational.
I still want for better. I still want for bigger. I still want for more.
But, somehow it's not necessarily a bigger house, and its certainly not more money.
I want for more moments to reflect. I want for more moments to share experiences with my boys. I want for more moments to feel and share joy. I want for a bigger opportunity to impact the world around me. I want for the next and better version of myself.
And, I want for all of that not because I don't have enough, or because I am not enough...
I want for all of that because I am human being, and working toward the next & better version of myself is what keeps me alive and purposeful.
That is a very different understanding & motivation than I once had. I was once driven for better, and more and bigger, because I didn't feel like I was good enough or simply enough.
And, the feeling of being enough of having enough comes from gratitude.
Gratitude, I realize, comes from humility. To be grateful, I must be humble.
And, humility and gratitude can be ambitious too. It just leaves a very different taste in your mind and in your soul.
The older I get, the more I FEEL grateful, and I am convinced its because I speak to it, not just in these conversations, or at work... I have CONVERSATIONS about GRATITUDE ALL THE TIME as i drive alone in the car. I am constantly reframing my conversation to gratitude. And, my mind is changing.
So, as we approach this most special holiday. Who knows exactly what was going on in the minds of the Pilgrims and the Native Americans who shared the meal. I certainly have a curiosity about what that initial feast was like and about how accurately or inaccurately we may be remembering it...
But, what I do know is that, whatever it once was, it is now a weekend to reflect and to share and to once again remind ourselves of ALL that we have to be thankful for...
We are all so very blessed, and we all so very often forget to remember ;-)
The world needs more people to be mindful of gratitude.
The world needs more people to speak to gratitude.
Because, the world so desperately needs more people to FEEL grateful.
Gratitude leads to more open minds, to kinder hearts, to happier souls, to a more peaceful world.
In the coming days, don't just say "Happy Thanksgiving"...
OWN IT.
TAKE PAUSE.
FEEL DEEP JOY.
BE THOUGHTFULLY GRATEFUL.
AND
LINGER IN IT...
The world needs more people in Thanksgiving...
WANT for it, not just on the last Thursday of every November, but on EVERY DAY!
Gratitude comes from humility.
Gratitude comes from embracing the IS of our lives.
GRATITUDE is the joy from the NUCLEUS of harmony.
And, it fuels the joy that allows us to dream even bigger.
I am enough.
You are enough.
Linger on gratitude.
Linger in gratitude.
Keep reminding those around you...
Keep reminding me...
Happy Thanksgiving!
Yours in a very special harmony,
Nestor