Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving – the expression of gratitude.  Those of us who run in spiritual circles hear a lot about gratitude.  There are numerous books in the market on the topic.  It’s become almost a buzzword.  But there is a huge difference between saying thank you and feeling grateful from the tips of your toes.

Gratitude in an emotional context feels both humble and bounteous.  Gratitude comes with an upwelling of joy and love.  It is a giving back, thanks in love returned for gifts received.  There is a Norse tradition expressed in the rune Gifu.  Acceptance of a gift obligates, a gift for a gift.  But when gifts are exchanged in gratitude that obligation becomes joyful and burden-less.

The holiday this week brings gratitude, thankfulness, into our cultural awareness.  Many of us find ourselves fulfilling family obligations, and often with more trepidation than joy.  Is this a holiday of food and football?  Is this a celebration of white privilege, colonial expansion and manifest destiny?  Even staying in the moment can be difficult as many of us use the day to scan the ads and plan our black Friday shopping expeditions.

In an effort to stay present in the moment and to experience the week in gratitude I have written a short mediation, a prayer if you will, that I would like to share with you here.  If you like it I would ask you to please share my blog, pass it on.

I breathe deeply, in and out.

I can be grateful for my breath in and out.

I breathe in and fill my body with gratitude.

I breathe out and release that which does not serve my greater purpose.

I am grateful for my breath.

I breath into my body.  My chest moves as I breath.  My belly moves as I breath.  

I can be grateful for my body as it contains my breath.

I breathe in and fill my body with gratitude.

My body moves in gratitude.

My body carries gratitude into the world.

I am grateful for my body.

I live in my body, moved by my breath in each moment of my life.

I can be grateful for my life. 

My life is lived in gratitude.

My life is filled with gifts and opportunities for giving.

I am grateful for my life.

Blessed Be.

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