How Do We Give Thanks?

Do I truly express my gratitude as well as I can? Sometimes that’s a trick question for me. I might “say” I’m thankful; I might even make a gratitude list where I write down all the big things (and little things, too) that I’m grateful for. It’s probable that I’ll express my gratitude aloud in the form of grace before a meal, or a simple acknowledgement of something someone has done for me.

But is that enough? Will those simple actions really help me change my attitude in the now, or possibly the direction of my life? It’s hard to tell, isn’t it?

Most of the prosperity techniques I have read and studied list gratitude as one of the most important building blocks to true abundance. This could be abundance in finances, health, relationships, peace or any of the other things I want to see more of in my life. So if I’m saying grace and making lists, where’s all the abundance I’m looking for?

For me, the difference between thinking or speaking about gratitude and actually seeing the results of true gratefulness is often the emotion I attach to my prayers of thanks. What am I feeling when I’m being grateful? Am I making my lists from the habit of a simple thought process, or am I putting thankful emotion behind each entry?

For example: it may not be enough to simply say that I’m grateful for running water. If I truly want to feel grateful for this service, it might be helpful to imagine what my life would be like without it. Would I be priming a pump for drinking or cooking water? Would I be washing my body with a rag and a bucket, or bathing in a cold stream? Would I be using an outhouse instead of an indoor toilet? Our ancestors did these things. How different would our lives be today with the same set of conditions? And what about cars and roadways, places to live and modern medicine? You get the idea. After hurricanes Helene and Milton, we have to look no further than Florida and North Carolina, to the areas most devastated by the damage of high winds and rain, to see that many lives have been lost or severely disfigured by the loss of water, power, roads, homes, jobs and even whole towns.

There’s a big difference in “saying” that I’m grateful and truly feeling gratitude for any situation that I’m concerned about. With strong emotion behind my thanks, I’ll actually be happy to pay the utilities, the car loan, the rent and the hospital deductible! And I’ll be thrilled to go to work instead of lamenting the fact that the building where I worked no longer exists.

When I’m feeling grateful, I also feel joyful—ecstatic even. Anything that seems like a mundane item on my gratitude list becomes very important to me, and fills me with happiness and enthusiasm. These are the feelings that help me change my current circumstances and prepare me (and others) for all the goodness that’s on its way to me.

This week of the Thanksgiving holiday is the perfect time for all of us to check our gratitude practices. When our thankfulness produces contentment and elation in our thoughts, warmth and joy in our heart centers, and bliss and exuberance in our souls, we’re on the right track. These fuller, bolder, more exhilarating emotions will definitely give us the delight and enjoyment that we’re looking for in our “now” moments. They will also move us into the hope, trust, and faith that will open our hearts to the infinite possibilities of all forms of abundance that are just waiting for us to receive them.

Affirmation: My heart is now filled to overflowing with passionate thankfulness for all my blessings, both seen and unseen.
I now allow, acknowledge, accept and affirm that this is so.

I hope, pray and affirm that all your days are Thanksgiving days and that your grateful hearts bring you all the good you can possibly imagine.

Happy Thanksgiving from Rev Rita