Gobble, gobble, gobble!

It’s officially the week of Thanksgiving and you can feel it in the air! People are taking to the streets and to the stores. I’m not sure how many are dancing and spreading the blessings of thanks to one another and each and every person they see and meet along the way! But, I do know that the energy is gearing up for those days ahead and I want you to get your attitude of gratitude on as you remind yourself to be safe as you venture out and about!

While some are counting their blessings more than once, sending cards, texts, and emails of thanks to those they love.  Others are feeling the pressure. They are on the run, and running they are as the grocery stores gear up and the retailers are preparing for the opening of Black Friday. Some even beginning it on the day of Thanks and some lining up on the sidewalks to buy on sale what will still be on sale in December but they just have to have it now.

 Ah yes, Thanksgiving is upon us!

Many are looking forward to a day of great smells in their homes. Shared stories of those they love, the memories of times once held together, precious memories of those that were good, great, not so grand, or all wrapped into one.

And then there are the traditions that now are only figments of the imagination. Those times that seemed like so long ago, they were real and touchable, but yet so gone as are those who held them together.

A holiday that many savor just as the smells and aromas that fill homes or the memories of so many.

Turkey, dressings, and pies, oh my! The Thanksgiving Parade and football! The joys of a day.

A day to GIVE THANKS and to be thankful. To remember the First Americans, their hospitality, the extension of self for the greater good, and treaties broken. The circle of life in lessons learned, in gratitude. Interesting how that works isn't it?

I am thankful for so many things, so many people, so much of life's lessons and continue to be blessed by all.

I can look forward to doing that “Black Friday” thing; an interesting study in human behavior it is. I love going with friends and enjoying a pumpkin spice latte. It is a wonderful time to kick back and just people watch, to have several laughs as you watch people just lose their ever lovin' minds without filters or restraints. 

Now that is just funny and so wrong on so many levels …Maybe it is just funny that it is wrong or wrong that it is funny!

We will be spending our Thanksgiving with some of our closest friends. Gonna cook it up real nice with Nicole for about 20 people.

Sometimes it is time to change it up, to switch from what was to what is and what fits you best for now. Sometimes it is time to break from tradition.

Perhaps this year, this week is your week for major changes in how you do this holiday, and I pray you begin it with a breath of gratitude, the wind of hope that touches your face to remind you that we are all connected in this thing we call life, both here and in the next place.

Be gentle with people and extend kindness to all you encounter. Remember those who are now growing or grown and they do not need us like they once did, do not always express their love the way they once did, and we have given them the strength to fly, yet it is us who miss what once was more than they do. 

May you have a glorious day while taking one step of dance at a time and letting you decide how you will enjoy this week of Thanksgiving.

Will it be with gratitude or jacked up stress?

It is up to you now.