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My tank if full! It’s full of gratitude and thanksgiving. I sincerely hope your Thanksgiving holiday was as awe-inspiring as mine. If not, maybe I can give you some “keys” to unlock the blessings or you can borrow some of mine? I have a penchant for acronyms, so here is mine for being thankful.
T – Thanksgiving! I love having a holiday that the entire country can focus and reflect upon what they are grateful for – if only for an instant. Imagine if you could harness all that positive energy! Love is energy.
H – Health! Since last Thanksgiving, I had another scary heart surgery and another emergency hospital stay, along with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease. For this past year I have had extreme difficulty walking, remembering, communicating, sleeping, and concentrating. I was so weak, I couldn’t turn over in bed. It was like the Di I had known all my life had moved out and I was frantically searching for her. The cliche, “If you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything,” rang so true that I will never take it for granted again.
Feeling and moving like my old self again, I was ambling down my lovely street on Thanksgiving morning in awe of nature’s beauty and the vibrant fall leaves. I was grateful for all the years that I have been able to walk, run, ride a bike, hike, do yoga, and so much more. I have friends that can’t walk or never could. I thought if I could never walk again, that I had 67 years of being able to walk to be grateful for. Now, each day I have, with each step I take, I am humbly grateful. When I am in nature, in that “gratitude” zone, with my “tank full,” I am able to connect and communicate in an other worldly manner. I am healing.
A – Abundance! So many of us believe that abundance is about having lots of money or more things than we need. To me, abundance is having plenty of ALL the good things in life that really matter. Things like: being able to give and receive love, peace of mind, being able to forgive – both yourself and others, having an attitude of gratitude, joy, and being of service. Abundance is a state of mind to me.
N – Namaste. For over a decade I did Bikram hot yoga religiously. When I was in a backbend position I would always read the Namaste poster on the back wall. Now it is over my desk and I don’t have to read it upside down with sweat dripping in my eyes, but the message is as powerful as ever. I believe we see each other’s souls when we are living “namaste.”
K – Kathy and Kindness. My friend Kathy recently hosted a live in-person Arbonne (vegan health and wellness company) party for me. It was the first one since my surgeries and COVID and it was fun! Real fun! The party reminded me of normalcy – of what it was like before COVID. It reminded that this COVID will pass and that there are wonderful new people to meet and friends to make. I am so thankful to Kathy for her kindness. It is the start of a new beginning and a new mindset for me. I am reminded of what Dr. Wayne Dyer used to say, “It’s better to be kind than to be right.”
F – Father. My dad turned 90 the end of September. We had a magnificent party to celebrate. It consisted mostly of our huge close-knit family with a few long-time friends. One of my dad’s buddies stood up and commented that in all the years that he had known my dad, he had never heard him say a bad word about anyone. I know that to be true about my dad and thought about how fortunate, how blessed, I am to have a father like that. I am going to start today by being more like my precious father.
U – Unconditional Love. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I was reintroduced to unconditional love in the form of a rambunctious little puppy by the name of Lady who stayed with us. Lady was love in action. What a lesson we can learn from our pets!
L– Loss. You might think that for the letter “L” I would choose love, or laughter, or life; but loss has taught me all those things. Living and working through my grief over the last few years I have found the meaning of life and love. That has enabled me to laugh again – particularly at myself – whom I happened to find along the journey. I found all these gifts that were buried in the grief. I found the importance of loving yourself and for that I am thankful. I am also grateful to be able to assist others through their grief as I have completed my grief educator certification.
As you can see, I have many things to be thankful for. What are some things on your list? Happy Holidays!