Which brings me to the general point of this post. I'd been thinking a great deal about Giving Thanks. I came across this article in a recent NY Times (perhaps you read it yourself already): A Serving of Gratitude May Save the Day. Who couldn't continue to read an article that states "A new study shows that feeling grateful makes people less likely to turn aggressive when provoked, which helps explain why so many borthers-in-law survive Thanksgiving without serious injury." (this doesn't apply to anyone I know personally of course).
But I don't want to be passive about giving thanks. I feel like it should be more than sharing prayers around the dinner table. Demonstrating gratitude usually requires deeper consideration of those things for which I am thankful. So when I consciously choose to park further away from the store entrance so that closer parking spots can be available to those who need them more than I do, I feel like it demonstrates my gratitude for being physically comfortable walking a few extra feet. When I clean snow off cars in the parking lot after work, I hope this pays itself forward as many times as necessary to get a returned favor out there to someone who really needs it. Since Facebook says it's not six degrees of separation, it's only 4.74 degrees--paying it forward should take significantly less time these days! Gratitude and thanks will take much less time to find their way back to you in this case.
So I guess, for me at least, it really is those small everyday acts that should be foremost in our minds as the holidays roll up and over us like some kind of runaway SUV. And despite this wordy post recommending otherwise, please allow me say Thank You to each of you for reading these posts and supporting my efforts to share.
And one other thing to be thankful for: Last Day of November Rainbow
1 comment:
As usual, well put. I totally enjoy reading your posts, so I say Thank you back. Great picture of the rainbow.
Post a Comment