In our hearts, when we awaken this morning, giving thanks is our intention. Even so, at this eons stage in the game, giving thanks is not always so easy- it may not even be natural or normal. Because, in reality, our natural stance, the point of view that has enabled our species to survive, is to look for the half-empty rather than the half-full.
That is normal- looking at the half-empty.
And we can learn to turn that around – to focus on the half-full and all that we have in this ‘as is’ that is life – and to give thanks and celebrate.
It’s a matter of proactive choice.
I tell you this because I want you to give yourself a break for being normal, a break for any moments when you might lapse into longing for things gone by, for people who have left your life or have departed this earthly part of the journey, for dreams never brought to fruition.
I want you to relish your ‘as is’ of life on this day of giving thanks.
And so today, between offering thanks for all that is, for all that has been, and for all that is yet to be within your life- your hopes and dreams, the things for which you will be grateful next Thanksgiving - I offer you these suggestions for how to focus on the half-full when the half-empty is calling your name.
First, the normal part- looking at the half-empty is, after all, what has ensured that we survived as a species during days gone by when plants that smelled odd could be toxic, when people who looked different could be at the door of our caves to take our lives, when losing members of our family could be the downward spiral diminishing one’s contribution to the gene pool. We can honestly be grateful that that those days are gone by and that our modern brain enables us to move beyond the autopilot fight-flight response to novelty and difference. Today we can, with the power of brain and heart, embrace things that are new and different as part of life and even as possible life-savers in today’s global world.
Second, we can’t sing two songs at the same time. (Remember this the next time you can’t get a song out of hour head- choose a different song.) So if you want to get rid of a song that you don’t like, choose another one- for me, it’s always BRUCE as in Springsteen.
For giving thanks today, here is how to make it work for you.
Just as we can only sing one song at a time, we can’t look back and look forward at the same time.
We can’t look back and be present at the same time.
The good news and another thing for which we can be grateful is this- WE CAN CHOOSE THE SONG IN OUR HEARTS, THE SONG AND THE THOUGHTS IN OUR HEADS AND OUR FOCUS- BE IT ON THE HALF-FULL OR THE HALF-EMPTY, THE PAST OR FUTURE OR THE NOW THAT IS THE GIFT OF LIFE.
Today, on this day of thanks, give yourself a gift-
-a time for reviewing thanks-givings from the past,
-and, then a time to be in this moment and to savor and give thanks for all that is the gift of the present,
-and, then, to give yourself the gift of dreaming, a gift from our beautiful minds- look forward to all that you want to be, do and create between today and thanks-giving next. Savor this vision and log it into your heart as the solution- versus re-solution- to where you want to take your life on this next chapter.
Wanting to put my own advice into play on this first day of giving thanks since my own Father’s passing, I chose to look briefly back at the past, at Thanksgivings gone by when my Dad would pull up in my driveway in his old red truck, a truck full of fishing rods and gear and every tool known to man. I sang a tune from yesteryear similar to the “Yesterday” tune of The Beatles. I recalled, I vividly experienced, the sight of my Dad’s twinkling eyes, his smile, his hug and how he laughed at my daughters’ independent ways, of how he loved to goad them into teasing me and when he himself joined in the teasing, when he became child to his own daughter.
And then, with a big sigh, I let this go. I relished it just as much as I will relish the turkey dinner today and I let it go, acknowledging that still it will live in my heart and always be a part of who I am. And I smiled.
I chose a different song, the song of today- like Stevie Wonder’s “Song of Life” - as I relished the process of dressing the turkey, of the teasing from my four daughters, of taking my annual ten mile run - and off I went into today’s present.
I think I will save the vision of the future for after the dinner when I might even allow myself the opportunity to revisit yesterday. The song will, naturally, be a BRUCE tune- "Badlands" where the words encourage each one of us to "Talk about a dream. Try to make it real" and to "wanna go out tonight" to "wanna find out what I got..." My Dad, the Jersey shore boy, would like that one. And that makes me smile too.
Engage the power of your brain and heart today to choose your songs today.
Savor your present. Relish today.
Enjoy the sensation of gratitude that looking for the half-full allows.
Choose your songs and sing each one aloud, dancing all the while as though your life depended on it…give thanks for all that life has to offer and step forward into the vision that you want to create, the dreams that your beautiful mind and beating heart enable you to envision and to create, the dreams that, when you make them real, will become the food-for-thought for which you will sing a song of gratitude next year.
Enjoy your song and gift of life.
Looking forward,
Pam
