For those of us in the United States, November means Thanksgiving–spending time with family and friends and realizing all we are grateful for in this life.  The part about spending time with family and friends is inevitable because on Thanksgiving Day, we usually celebrate by sharing a large meal with those closest to us.  But do we always take time to contemplate all we are grateful for in life? Maybe we need to put a little more emphasis on the gratitude part of our lives.

A holidays approach, we often find ourselves caught up in the whirlwind of preparation. This dynamic coupled with our existing busy schedules adds to the chaotic web we weave around ourselves.  We don’t always take the time to be fully present and just breathe nor do we the time to contemplate gratitude.  Before we know it, the holidays are past and we find ourselves in exhausted states recalling very little of the tornado of activity that tore through our lives during the busy season.

Perhaps this year we can challenge ourselves to follow a different path.  The exercise below is meant to help us focus on gratitude not just one day out of the year, but each day.  As we focus and reflect on all we are grateful for, we send that message out to the universe and attract more of it in our lives, thus attracting more of what we want into our realities and less of what we don’t want.  I hope this year is one of consciously living in gratitude for you and your family.

Bright blessings,

Anysia

Living In Gratitude Exercise:

1.  On a sheet of paper, write down all your are grateful for in life (include people those in spirit and on Earth, pets, experiences, attributes and talents, and material things)

2.  Keep your gratitude list next to your bed with a pen or pencil

3.  Add new additions to this list, as you see fit.

4.  Before going to sleep each night, review everything on your list.  Then send the Universe a thought of gratitude for everything on your list.

5.  When you wake up in the morning, take a couple of minutes to review  your list and once again, take time to send a thought of gratitude for all the things on your list.

6.  As you grow in your gratitude, take note of the way you manifest more of what you are grateful for in your life and less of what you do not want in your life.

For most Americans, Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of family coming together and sharing a delicious meal celebrated in gratitude, laughter, and memories. The wafting scents of honey-glazed candied yams and warm cinnamon pumpkin pie rouse a dichotomy of comfort, as well as a bit of trepidation in me. Although I enjoy seeing my family and spending time with all of them, there are many different personalities and we don’t always blend like the brush strokes of an oil painting . Sometimes I encounter conflict during the holidays with my siblings, but I wanted this year to be different.

As I stood in the back of my church at Mass this past Sunday and prayed to God for guidance, my passed-on maternal grandmother, Nanny, visited me.  Her soothing, loving energy vibrated gently by my side and I heard her whisper in my ear, as I watched the other parishioners file down the isle for Communion.  She reminded me of how lucky I am to have a family. She suggested that instead of focusing on the differences, I should try imagining what the holidays would be like if I didn’t have any family.  This thought conjured a bleak image with me sitting at a long empty table in a gray-dipped room and a cloud-filled ceiling.  She challenged me for Thanksgiving to just accept everyone as a soul of light, be present, and thankful that they’re there to celebrate as a family. I accepted her challenge, although I had some hesitation as to whether or not it would help me evade discord.

Nanny asked if we could take some time at dinner and have each person give thanks for a living family member as well as one that had crossed over.  At first I didn’t realized why she asked me to share this task, but after Mass, it came to me.  The first thing she said during Mass was that I was lucky to have a family to celebrate the holidays with me.  Her task made me wonder if it would be easier to think of the crossed over family members more than the living?  Do we only appreciate people when they’re gone?  The revelation hit me like a strong wind and rippled through my soul. I sent her thoughts of gratitude for her visit and her wise advice.

On Thanksgiving, all seventeen of us participated in Nanny’s exercise and shared many smiles as well as a few tears. It catalyzed a discussion of family both living and passed-on uniting us in our memories and laughter.  Family palates come in all shapes, sizes, and incorporate myriads of colorful traits.  I learned yesterday that our differences unite us as part of a whole, for it is these uniquities that bring color, vibrancy, and variety–creating a family masterpiece. When can get caught up in family differences, we only see the many brush strokes and varied spots of color in front of our eyes.  Thank God for our family in the spirit realm that remind us to take a step back and view the work of art–the bigger picture.  Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to be grateful for those who are living and those who have passed because they fill our lives with love.

Love and light,

Anysia