Thanksgiving After Thoughts To Consider Year Round

Thanksgiving is something that we ought to celebrate and practice more than just one day out of the year. My husband repeated a very profound statement that he had heard on the radio earlier in the work week on Thanksgiving Day. It went something like this: “If all you had today was what you thanked God for yesterday, what would you still have today?” Stop and think about that for a minute or two. Did you utter more thankfulness or complaints yesterday? Take a time out and reflect. Be personal in your after thoughts of Thanksgiving Day. This is the kind of thanksgiving thoughts that we all should consider year round and not for just one day devoted to overindulging in food.

Spiritual and Emotional Balance

Even with all the planning that goes into dinner for your Thanksgiving guests, ingredients are forgotten, an illness happens, and time constraints raise stress levels. Grumbling and complaining can then take a frontline row and disrupt spiritual and emotional balance. Time to change out the focus and reset our spirit and emotions. So how do you go about doing that? First, begin with a prayer to focus on what has been given and NOT what isn’t going well. Starting with a prayer is always a good avenue to find resolution in any situation. Second, stop grumbling and complaining. Grumbling and complaining creates relational rifts. Instead, say a genuine prayer for that person. Everyone has struggles in life. There are no exceptions. Lastly, take several deep breaths to calm your mind and emotions. Let all the stress of the situation be exhaled with each exhaled breath until you feel calmer.

Let Go Of What You Cannot Control

It is funny how much control we actually think we have over things in life. The truth of the matter is that we really don’t have control over much other than our self and our responses. While we all have opinions and some of them very strong, we don’t have the authority to exercise our personal opinions and beliefs in other people’s lives. We can discuss them with each other but God has given us all free will to choose and decide our own paths in life. No one is exempt from making mistakes or bad choices. For some reason it is much easier to see someone else’s mistakes and rant over them instead of acknowledging our own. Instead the focus should be on the changes that we can make in our own person. Letting go of all the excess baggage of someone else’s issues can only do you good.

Truly Be Thankful

Truly make the choice to be thankful! Everyday there are multiple reasons to give thanks to God above. It is a choice to be thankful. In the beginning it was difficult for me to be thankful and was easier to complain. The more I voiced my complaints the bigger the struggles and unhappiness became. A good example of this was how much I hated washing dishes. An older lady from church confided she felt the same until she realized that dirty dishes meant her family had food to eat. Wow! I was convicted. Once I chose to search out reasons to be thankful and continue this practice the smaller my struggles and unhappiness became. A grateful heart is indeed a happy heart. Being truly thankful isn’t much different than seeing the glass half full instead of seeing it half empty. Happiness increases when you are truly thankful.

Thoughts To Consider Year Round

The first Thanksgiving celebrated a good harvest, homes, firewood and food for the winter, friendships and family who shared in the work and feast. We take these blessings today completely for granted. Instead of taking the blessings that God has given us for granted on a daily basis begin to be thankful on a daily basis. Thank God for that unexpected visitor who brought with him much laughter. Thank God for good health and the ability to get up and be able to do some type work. Thank God for short visits with family when they can be snuck in. Thank God for ability to travel, see new sights, and revisit old stomping grounds. Thank God for time to care for the elders in your family. Thank God for friendships and prayer warriors in your life. Consider all these thoughts year round and increase the thankfulness of your heart.