THANKSGIVING
26 Nov 2014
Today is Thanksgiving in the United States. Even though I was not raised in this country, I have adopted this tradition as an opportunity to be thankful for all the blessings in my life.
There are different versions about how this holiday came about. The general version is that this holiday is celebrated to give thanks for the harvest. It is also said that the first, or one of the first thanksgivings in this country happened with the native Indians and early settlers coming together to give thanks for the harvest which helped the new immigrants survive. It is said also that the harvest was possible because of the help of the native indians.
I don’t know how accurate these versions are, but what I do know is that later on the colonist fought and conquered the native indians, taking possession of their lands. They were concentrated in camps where they could live with supposedly autonomy. These actions don’t seem to come from people being grateful for the reception and help the indians gave them.
I don’t want to sound negative in this uplifting holiday, but i think it is important to state some of the background history of this day.
Going back to the positive side, I believe that being thankful or grateful is one of the best things we could do in our live’s. Being thankful could be one of the best cures for many of our emotional and psychological ailments.
Why? Well, how depressed could we be if we were thankful, grateful for being alive? How angry could we be if we were grateful for each experience we have the opportunity to live? How sad could we be if we were grateful for what we gain and not focus so much on our loses?
Sometimes when I feel grumpy or negative, I practice smiling and being thankful for all that I have in my life. I find that it is very easy to become pessimistic and see all things as going “wrong”. When I feel like this, I usually go for a walk and I practice smiling to change my emotional state; I practice thinking about what I do have and what it was like when I didn’t have those things or people with me.
In doing this I change my perspective, my outlook. Once I have transformed my emotional state to be positive instead of negative, it feel as if I was another person. I become optimistic and hopeful, I become more creative to solve my problems and I feel more loving towards people around me.
When I am grumpy I can only think about how my expectations are not being met, how this or that is not ok, and how this or that person is not doing what they should. I can also feel ugly, overweight, tense and stressed. I feel as if life is not worth living and how all is worthless and has no point.
What a contrast isn’t it?
I don’t know if you experience something similar, but if you are like me I think the act of being thankful is one of the best healing potions. Is the magic pill we can all take every day to better ourselves and our life. It is the one thing we do have control over that can help us have more opportunities in life.
Why them, don’t we do this more often? Why don’t we practice being thankful?
It seems to be that it is very easy to get distracted with the problem of the day, it is easy to focus on our pain and our losses and once we start on this negative path, it is difficult to change the inertia.
But we can change it! We can change it by doing some simple steps.
- Smile.
- Think about the positive side of having the people, the things and the experiences you have in your life
Let’s try it.
Before you go on with this article, I want you to smile. It doesn’t have to be a big, fake smile, it could be subtle, it could be a Mona Lisa type of smile. Try it! Take a few seconds before you continue.
Check how you feel as you smile. No cheating! Do not continue reading until you smile. Keep it for at least 30 seconds.
Now, notice how you feel. Do you like it? Do you feel better?
Look around, look at the room where you are, look through the windows. Does life seem better? If there are people close by, do they seem different once you smile?
Now, keeping the smile (No cheating!) I want you think about the closest people you have in your life. Maybe it is your dad, your mom, your best friend, your brother, sister, husband, wife or children. Choose at least one of them and think how is your life better because of them. Think about what they have brought to you, to your life. Think about how wonderful it is to have them with you. Remember one day they will be gone.
Take at least 30 seconds to do think about this. No cheating!
How does that feel? How do you see them now? How do you feel about your problems?
Isn’t great that we can develop our thankfulness? Isn’t it great that we can choose to be positive instead of negative?
Now if you want to become a pro at being thankful, how about doing a daily practice of smiling and being thankful? How about doing five minutes every day for thirty days? Do you think this would be good for you? How about doing it form thanksgiving until Christmas?
Wouldn’t that be awesome!
I hope you and your life becomes better because of your smile and because of your thankfulness.
With love,
Edgar Boone
PS: If you decide to do this practice, please send me a message telling me what it was like for you.