Thanksgiving:
Spreading Thankfulness Throughout the Year

IThanksgiving will soon be upon us and with it the start of the holiday season.  Always celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday of November, Thanksgiving is the day where families and friends gather to give thanks and celebrate the conclusion of the harvest.  Nicknamed "Turkey Day", it's a wonderful opportunity for loved ones to spend time together and share a festive meal.

On Thanksgiving, our thoughts naturally turn to thankfulness, gratitude, blessings, abundance, and prosperity.  Although we only celebrate the day once a year, we can make every day of the year a day to be thankful for.  Here are some ideas to ponder:

• Count your blessings!  Create a gratitude journal by listing things that you are grateful for.  Do you have a loving partner?  Wonderful kids?  Cherished pets?  Special friends?  A job you enjoy?  These all go on the list.  Keep adding to the list (everyday if possible).  Making such a list and referring to it often will allow positive energy to flow through you and help bring more blessings into your life.
  
  
• Banish negative thinking!  Someone once told me that if you have a negative thought for more than 17 seconds it will affect you for 24 hours.  When you catch yourself having less than positive thoughts immediately turn them around 180 degrees.  For example, if you think "I feel lonely" turn it around and think "I have lots of people in my life who love and care for me."  Go one step further and list them in your gratitude journal.  When you banish negative thinking from your conscious mind, you allow more space for positive thoughts to flow in.  This will increase your energy and elevate your mood.
  
  

• Lend a helping hand!   The best way to let go of your worries is to help someone else with theirs.  There will always be those among us who are not as fortunate as we are.  Volunteer your time to a cause you believe in.  Help a neighbor with household chores.  Listen to a friend share her concerns.  By focusing on others, we allow energy to flow from us to the other person and back around continuously.
  
  
• Share your bounty!  We usually think of bounty at Thanksgiving because of the harvest but we are bountiful throughout the year as well.  Share your bounty with those in need.  Donate canned goods and non-perishables to the food bank.  Give charitable donations to causes you believe in.  Invite someone over for a home-cooked meal.  By sharing your blessings, you allow more blessings to flow into your life.
  
  
• Love yourself!  For you to have energy to share with others you must make it a habit to take extreme self care.  This means that you make yourself the number one priority.  It's not being selfish to do this.  Make time for yourself every day to do things that nourish and replenish you.  Light a fragrant candle, read a good book, take a warm bubble bath, take a walk in nature.  Do something that allows you to connect with your spirit.  When you take time for yourself, you will have more energy to give to others without depleting yourself.
  
  
• Banish psychic vampires!  Psychic vampires are the people who seem to suck the energy right out of you.  If you have someone in your life that drains your energy, limit your time with him or her.  Surround yourself with positive people instead.  Positive people naturally give you more energy.  More energy begets more energy!
  
  
• Connect with friends!  Remember to give time to those who believe in you - your friends.  They are the ones who know you best, warts and all, and still love you anyway.  Friends are the ones who will lend an ear to listen to your troubles, laugh with you when you are happy, and cry with you when you are sad.  They are also the ones who will give you a swift kick in the pants when you need it.  But don't blame them for it - they only do it because they love you!
  
  
• Bask in the beauty!  Look for the beauty and abundance in everyday life.  Stop and smell the roses (or the pumpkins at this time of year!)  Notice the beauty in others.  Eva Gregory, one of the foremost authorities on the Law of Attraction, writes, "Choosing to see people in their magnificence opens up the space for them to step into the place where they are ultimately meant to be."  Admiring beauty allows you to see it everywhere you look.
  
  
• Seek prosperity!  What does prosperity mean to you?  Is it lots of money in the bank?  Is it a nice home?  Is it financial security?  Is it a steady job?  Or does it mean a circle of close, loving friends?  Decide what your measure of success is.  This is highly personal.  Your definition of success doesn't have to be anyone else's.  When you have decided what you want, go after it.  You deserve prosperity!
  
  
• Check out the Law of Attraction!  Speaking of prosperity, Eva Gregory wrote a book called the Feel Good Guide to Prosperity.  The book is about the Law of Attraction, the Universal Law made famous by the book and movie The Secret.  This Law states that whatever you give your attention, energy, and focus to, whether positive of negative, you get more of.  There are great resources about this Law on the Internet but one of the best sites is Eva's own website at www.leadingedgecoaching.com

With these ideas, you can have Thanksgiving every day of the year.  You don't have to wait for the last Thursday in November.  A life of abundance, gratitude, bounty, and prosperity is yours for the taking.  Reach out and grab it.  You're worth it!

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