Every morning when we wake up, we get to choose our attitude. Any attitude we wish is available for the taking. We can put it on and wear it the entire day, and just like the right pair of shoes can change the outfit, the right attitude can change your experience.
Most days we wake up unaware of this choice. We wait and see how others are acting, how our hair looks, and what the weather is.
Good day, good attitude.
Bad day, bad attitude.
Average day, average attitude.
We allow our experience to dictate and determine our perspective. But within us is the power to change our entire experience, regardless of circumstances. Within you is your choice of attitude, and your choice changes everything you experience.
Today we have the extreme gift of waking up to a day when the preferred attitude is predetermined. It’s Thanksgiving, and what do we do on Thanksgiving besides eat a feast … we give thanks. Yes, we knew to wake up with an attitude of gratitude today. The calendar tells us today is the day to wake up to thanksgiving.
What would your life look like if you continually gave thanks? I mean in the presence of real life, less than perfect scenarios, would things begin to look and feel different if they were covered in the gravy of gratitude?
Yes, the gravy of gratitude – let it cover everything!
Gravy on that turkey, gravy on those potatoes, gravy to soak your bread in. Yum. Where do you get that gravy?
If you’re not a true cook, you may not know where gravy comes from. Honey, you don’t buy that gravy, you make that gravy from what you already have. You use the leftover grease or broth to make gravy.
The gravy of gratitude is made from what you already have. You can’t buy gratitude. You may think once you have what you really want then you’ll be grateful, but I assure you, that’s not the way it works. You’ll always want more or something else.
Gratitude comes from what you already have.
Melody Beattie said “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.”
I don’t know who you might be missing around the table this year, but I’m truly sorry. I’m deeply sorry for your loss. I’m sorry for the division. I’m sorry for the dysfunction. I’m sorry for the distance. For whatever has caused the empty seats around your table, I’m so sorry.
I’m missing important people too. No kids. No family. No friends. It’s just my husband and I. But God has given me so much bacon in my life already that I have all this leftover bacon grease from what he has given me before, that I can make the gravy of gratitude today. I have everything I need to be grateful, and now everything I have will be better because of that gratitude.
Today, may you see what is here over what isn’t. Unlock the fullness of life today with your thanksgiving. We truly have so much to be grateful for.
Let me throw my favorite absolutely overwhelming statistics at you, like I do every year on Thanksgiving:
If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of the world. (Is that you? Do you have food in your refrigerator? Do you have clothes on your back? Do you have a roof over your head and a place to sleep? You are wildly rich, my sister!)
If you have any amount of money in the bank, in your purse, or even some spare change hidden in your couch cushions, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealth. (Is that you too? You may not have a lot, but you have a little. You are ridiculously blessed, my friend!)
That’s me. I qualify for both of these categories.