Giving Thanks
Submitted by Fit and Female Blog
Happy Thanksgiving!!
This is one of my favorite holidays. Non-religious, based on celebrating, connecting with friends and family, giving thanks — and of course lots of eating. Maybe as a fitness professional, I should be telling you to stick to your “diet” at Thanksgiving…blah, blah, blah…get a life people — you can stay on the straight and narrow most of the other 365 days of the year.
That said, I do suggest getting out for a nice workout BEFORE stuffing your face or lapsing into a tryptophan-induced coma — but after that, I say GO FOR IT — ITS THANKSGIVING. Just don’t make Thanksgiving a 3-4 day affair.
But enough about eating…I’d rather blog about the real meaning of the holiday for me…specifically, the importance of giving thanks and feeling grateful for what you have.
It’s so easy in this culture where bright and shiny metal objects are constantly dangled in front of us to be ever longing for the next thing. More money, being thinner, having a “better” job, house, spouse or kids. We can easily be lulled into a “grass is greener” mentality that always has us looking at the lack in our lives, rather than focusing on the abundance.
Tony Robbins has a line that I think is brilliant. He says, “what could you be happy about in your life if you had to?” and he tries to force you into concentrating on everything that is RIGHT about your life, not everything that isn’t working quite as well as you’d like.
If you’ve read this blog for a while, you know that I’m a big believer in daily meditation. It’s a great way to reconnect with yourself, distress and remember what is most important in life (hint: it’s not our to-do lists). But since I started reading more about the importance of daily gratitude, I have added something to my daily meditation that sets up my day in the most wonderful way.
Now when I sit down to meditate, before I actually try to clear my mind and focus on my breath and being still and present — I spend a few minutes feeling overwhelming gratitude for all of the wonderful people, circumstances and things in my life. There are tons of them, but I always get to a few rings of my “inner circle”. I see the faces of all of the people that I love and who love me and I try (and this is corny, but true) to open up my heart and feel all the gratitude and love that I feel for each and every one of them.
It is an amazing feeling to feel, really feel how blessed you are. Sure, life is always changing and things aren’t completely perfect for anyone. I, certainly (like most people) I am always working towards bringing more and more good things into my life. But when I focus on how much in my life IS going right and all of the amazing people and events that have come my way — it literally takes my breath away and gives me a deep feeling of gratitude for the life that I’m living.
Besides the obvious, “feel good” benefits of this kind of a practice, there is also a whole other aspect to gratitude as well. A large number of self-help experts, spiritual teachers, scientists, you name it — are pointing to the growing body of evidence that suggests when you focus on the good things in your life, expect more of them in your life — voila– they “magically” appear.
I would encourage you to think about putting even 5 minutes of this type of “thankful thinking” into your own life and see what your experience is. I can pretty much guarantee you some positive dividends. One recommended way of doing this is to say, “I am so happy and grateful that…” and just run with it. Even giving thanks for things you WANT to happen that haven’t yet — because you know good things will continue to come to you.
Wishing you and yours a beautiful and joyous Thanksgiving,
