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Gratitude ~ The Thread

Gratitude is an important part of my Spiritual practice. :love2:


As a discipline and practice, it also has helped to keep me going when times in my life were really tough...
so I decided to start a thread here where folks can share what they are grateful for, share their good news about how things are going right in their lives, and/or share inspirational quotes, pictures, music and vids to help to encourage others along the way. :love11: :clap:

Please feel free to share and contribute something to this thread. :thumbsup: All of us have much to be grateful for, even in the midst of great difficulties. It helps us to endure when we can remember and savor those things in life which we are grateful for...and we all need encouragement from time to time! :arose:

My Dad used to say..."keep your eye on the doughnut, and not on the hole"! :biggrin: I've embraced that philosophy to very great benefit in my life, and I would wish the same for you! :flowers:

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." ~From the Bible, King James Version, Philippians 4:8 :rose:

So I'm going to start it off with this great short film and TED talk by Louie Schwartzberg entitled Gratitude. I hope you'll enjoy it! :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXDMoiEkyuQ&feature=share

Oh, and I'm VERY GRATEFUL for ESMB and all the healing that is happening here, for all the friends I've made on the board, and I'm especially grateful for THE SMILIES!!! :buzzin:

(Can't you tell?) :giggle:
 
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Free to shine

Shiny & Free
Thankyou Sweetness, I am also a great believer in gratitude. Once I fully grasped what it was about, being grateful changed my life and I have written of it before. Some days it came down to being grateful for the most simple things, like a cool breeze or the beauty of a flower.....I struggled to find some light in the darkness and it was always there. And then you come out of the dark times and can be truly grateful for being able to do that.

I am in a good place right now, my surgery is behind me, I am safely and comfortably housed and I am gratefully learning the art of relaxation! Thankyou to the wonderful friends, most of whom I will never meet in person, who helped get me here.

:thankyou::heartflower:
 

apocalyptic

Patron with Honors
Nice Thread. Powerful Idea. Beautiful Communication. (Thanks S&L).

‘Our’ collective-intellectual (& intuitive-consensus), is that ‘gratitude’ itself, is one of the most powerful spiritual forces that has ever existed, in any given soul, in any given world, at any given time.

And other than that....its mostly useless. (smile)

Apocalyptic



Gratitude is an important part of my Spiritual practice. :love2:


As a discipline and practice, it also has helped to keep me going when times in my life were really tough...so I decided to start a thread here where folks can share what they are grateful for, share their good news about how things are going right in their lives, and/or share inspirational quotes, pictures, music and vids to help to encourage others along the way. :love11: :clap:

Please feel free to share and contribute something to this thread. :thumbsup: All of us have much to be grateful for, even in the midst of great difficulties. It helps us to endure when we can remember and savor those things in life which we are grateful for...and we all need encouragement from time to time! :arose:

My Dad used to say..."keep your eye on the doughnut, and not on the hole"! :biggrin: I've embraced that philosophy to very great benefit in my life, and I would wish the same for you! :flowers:

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." ~From the Bible, King James Version, Philippians 4:8 :rose:

So I'm going to start it off with this great short film and TED talk by Louie Schwartzberg entitled Gratitude. I hope you'll enjoy it! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXDMoiEkyuQ&feature=share

Oh, and I'm VERY GRATEFUL for ESMB and all the healing that is happening here, for all the friends I've made on the board, and I'm especially grateful for THE SMILIES!!! :buzzin:

(Can't you tell?) :giggle:
 
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lotus

stubborn rebel sheep!
I do like a lot when people talk about gratitude.

Practicing gratitude is the opening door to
joy - resiliency - love - kindness and hope

When I feel the gratitude within me -
I touch the infinity
as everything is fine

When I have the worst moments of suffering in any manner
I try to say thanks
as I know it will end soon
:unsure:

When I have joyfull and happymoments
I say ''thank's''
As I know it will end soon
:biggrin:

Gardenning is a way I found to touch the space of gratitufde within our heart
Each blooming is like a god's gift
like each smile is a gift

Good post idea :thumbsup:
 
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Thank you everyone, for all the good thoughts and comments so far!

Lotus, what you said rang a bell with me, and reminded me of the words to this poem that I love, which was also put to music and was sung as a hymn by a young Sweetness as she was growing up! :biggrin:

~A Grateful Heart~

A grateful heart a garden is,
Where there is always room
For every lovely, Godlike grace
To come to perfect bloom.

A grateful heart a fortress is,
A staunch and rugged tower,
Where God's omnipotence, revealed,
Girds man with mighty power.

A grateful heart a temple is,
A shrine so pure and white,
Where angels of His presence keep
Calm watch by day or night.

Grant then, dear Father-Mother, God,
Whatever else befall,
This largess of a grateful heart
That loves and blesses all.

by Ethel Wasgatt Dennis


A%2BGiving%2BGrateful%2BHeart-003.jpg
 

lotus

stubborn rebel sheep!
It's beautifull and true

It resonate what I've learn as within us
is a garden
and we decide what we water
to grow the crop we want

:wink2:
 

Gadfly

Crusader
Does the feeling and expression of gratitude help to raise consciousness?

Great thread and topic S&L! :happydance:

From:

http://roulette404.multiply.com/journal/item/4466

I always liked some of the things he has to say.

Does the feeling and expression of gratitude help to raise consciousness?

Eckhart Tolle:

We are talking about a deeper gratitude. There are more superficial forms of gratitude, and that is not what we are talking about. By that I mean, to be grateful that someone else is worse off than you are… sometimes that is a source of gratitude. People say “Oh I really should be grateful, because look at this person – they are worse off than I am, so I should be grateful.” That’s not the true gratitude, that’s the gratitude that is arrived at through thinking, where you compare yourself to others.

The deeper gratitude is not arrived at through some conceptual process, where you explain to yourself why you should be grateful. That’s a superficial form of gratitude, that’s not really what it is, that’s ultimately to do with ego.

More fundamental than the true form of gratitude is the deep sense of appreciation. It’s not to do with what you are telling yourself in your head, it’s something that you sense in the present moment, it’s an appreciation of the “is-ness” of this moment.

We are using words as pointers. When I say “appreciation”, some people might ask “What do you mean by appreciation?” It’s to feel that the world around you is alive, and you share in the aliveness of the world that surrounds you. There’s the outer aliveness, in other human beings, even in your surroundings – whether it’s nature, or even in a room, you sense the aliveness of what’s around you at this moment, through your own aliveness. And with that comes the feeling, “it’s good to be alive”. You appreciate the many forms of life that are arising at this moment. You don’t impose judgment on the form that life takes at this moment, because the form that life takes changes continuously around you – one moment you’re here, the next moment you’re somewhere else.

It’s a deep sense of Being-ness, or aliveness, and through that you appreciate what is, in your life. And by saying “in your life”, it always means in the present moment, because apart from the present moment, there is no such thing as “your life”. If there’s something else there that’s not the present moment that you call “your life”, it’s a mental construct.

You have formed an image of “me” and “my life”, it’s a story, and you mistake that for your life. Fundamentally your life is whatever form this moment takes. Your life is always what is now. That’s your life. Not some story you’re telling yourself in your head.

Through that appreciation, you are sensing a sense of Oneness with what’s outside and what’s inside. There is no longer a separation that is created by excessive conceptual thinking between other people and the self, the separation is created by judgment. There is a sense of allowing the present moment to be as it is. All these are fundamental aspects of gratitude. It’s that openness to the ‘is-ness’ of this moment. With that openness, comes an appreciation for the “is-ness” of this moment. There is no longer a denial or a rejection of what is, because you have some story in your mind that clashes with what is around you at this moment. And that’s how many people live, so they go through life continuously, there’s a clash between their ideas of what should be now, and what is ‘now’.

The greatest form of suffering and frustration and non-fulfillment is the clash between the mental story of what “should” be and what is. That’s really the root of the madness. There cannot be gratitude when that operates in your life.

When something seemingly negative happens, people may find it very hard to say “Okay, I should be grateful, even for this”. I’m not saying you should do that, because even that is an idea in your head. It’s better to forget about trying to be grateful when something seemingly negative happens, and simply let go of the mental judgment of it, and say “This is what is, this is what happened, and this is the situation now”. If you can be free of mental judgment and denial or projection, complaining, and so on… just allow what is, and then something deeper emerges, even in a seemingly negative situation.

By coming into this place of acceptance, of the inevitable ‘is-ness’ of now, your inner state is no longer ultimately dependant on what is happening or not happening outside. That is a vital transformation of consciousness, where the external world no longer determines your state of consciousness.

So when something seemingly bad happens, say “this is”. Whether it is a small thing or a large thing, be open to that. If you’re open to the ‘is-ness’ of what is, something within you which we could call “peace” arises. Sometimes it’s very subtle, and you can’t notice it at first.

You’re not grateful for the seemingly bad thing, but you’re grateful that you can still be at peace, even in this situation. Internally you feel that by accepting, peace arises. Even in seemingly bad circumstances. And what is that peace? It’s an inner sense of aliveness, being-ness, presence. It’s the source of all gratitude.

There can be gratitude even when something bad happens. Not for the bad, but for the fact that even in the face of something seemingly negative, there is still peace in the background. But you won’t find that until you first accept what is.

Gratitude is very important. It transforms your whole life, if you can remember the importance of being grateful for life. As you go through your day, every day, you can even have little reminders – of the importance of being appreciative of life.

Every person has to verify for themselves, what can I be grateful for at this moment?

Sense the being that you are – not just the physical, but the sense of your own presence. That’s a great source of joy, to feel your own presence, it cannot really be defined. That’s the ultimate gratitude.


Here's a quote from Stillness Speaks:

"What will be left of all the fearing and wanting associated with your problematic life situation that every day takes up most of your attention? A dash - one or two inches long, between the date of birth and date of death on your gravestone. To the egoic self, this is a depressing thought. To you, it is liberating."

I was duped into believing I was destined to a heaven or hell after death. Total bullshit that was forced down my throat. Of course, I'll never know 100% what happens after death. But I strongly feel that it will be similar to going to sleep at night. The false self/ego will no longer be there to interpret anything. However, the essence of who we are, Life itself, will always and forever be present. When I see this, it makes me feel so grateful for each moment. Because when I do pass away, I will no longer be able to see the miracles that surround me."
 
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Thank you Gadfly, for that wonderful post! :) I want to comment on this part of it here:

"The greatest form of suffering and frustration and non-fulfillment is the clash between the mental story of what “should” be and what is. That’s really the root of the madness. There cannot be gratitude when that operates in your life.

When something seemingly negative happens, people may find it very hard to say “Okay, I should be grateful, even for this”. I’m not saying you should do that, because even that is an idea in your head. It’s better to forget about trying to be grateful when something seemingly negative happens, and simply let go of the mental judgment of it, and say “This is what is, this is what happened, and this is the situation now”. If you can be free of mental judgment and denial or projection, complaining, and so on… just allow what is, and then something deeper emerges, even in a seemingly negative situation.

By coming into this place of acceptance, of the inevitable ‘is-ness’ of now, your inner state is no longer ultimately dependent on what is happening or not happening outside. That is a vital transformation of consciousness, where the external world no longer determines your state of consciousness.

So when something seemingly bad happens, say “this is”. Whether it is a small thing or a large thing, be open to that. If you’re open to the ‘is-ness’ of what is, something within you which we could call “peace” arises. Sometimes it’s very subtle, and you can’t notice it at first.

You’re not grateful for the seemingly bad thing, but you’re grateful that you can still be at peace, even in this situation. Internally you feel that by accepting, peace arises. Even in seemingly bad circumstances. And what is that peace? It’s an inner sense of aliveness, being-ness, presence. It’s the source of all gratitude.

There can be gratitude even when something bad happens. Not for the bad, but for the fact that even in the face of something seemingly negative, there is still peace in the background. But you won’t find that until you first accept what is.

Gratitude is very important. It transforms your whole life, if you can remember the importance of being grateful for life. As you go through your day, every day, you can even have little reminders – of the importance of being appreciative of life.

Every person has to verify for themselves, what can I be grateful for at this moment?

Sense the being that you are – not just the physical, but the sense of your own presence. That’s a great source of joy, to feel your own presence, it cannot really be defined. That’s the ultimate gratitude."


I think this section is the key to what Paul meant when he said:

"Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need." New American Standard Bible, Philippians 4:11-12

And additionally, I think the latter part of what I have bolded above of Tolle's statement is what Paul meant in encouraging others to "pray without ceasing..."

.."we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another. We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you..." from first Thessalonians, same source as above quote.

So I see basic interrelation and harmonious agreement between a Buddhist perspective and a Christian perspective on the power and importance of both feeling and expressing gratitude in our lives. I wonder if anyone can find similar perspectives from other cultures and traditions out there? :)
 
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I confess that I have been thinking about starting this thread for a very long time now, and I think that our just celebrating Thanksgiving here in America gave me the impetus to really act on my desire to help co-create with you a thread on gratitude...I felt both empowered and impelled to do it, so "THANK YOU!" to everyone for playing along! :biggrin:
Let's have some fun with it! :happydance:

Please feel free to share what you are grateful for, or any other inspiration that you find to help cause others to feel more gratitude.

My hope for this thread is that the postings on it will hopefully help people to shift their viewpoints and attitudes into a more positive look at just being alive, and even to experience more joy in just simply living! :happydance:

I liked this short vid and want to share it:

http://youtu.be/jRBmpINJZHA
 
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Well, now that I've referenced our National Holiday of Thanksgiving, it occurs to me that some folks not living in America may not know much about it or understand why we take one day each year to celebrate gratitude. So let me take a little moment to talk about our holiday of Thanksgiving...( sorry folks, it's the teacher in me! :biggrin:)

It's a harvest feast, to begin with, similar to many other harvest festivals held around the world by many cultures to celebrate the end of harvest season. America was very heavily agricultural even as much as 40 years ago...and many of us here are just one or two generations off the family farm. Take me for example, both of my parents were born on their Mid-Western family farms, and I have fond memories of visiting my Grandparents and Great Aunts and Uncles on their home places here, usually called "ranches", more so than "farms" out here in the western United States.

So the big idea of the holiday is to celebrate bringing in a good harvest. Folks travel to "home" and gather in extended family groupings for a big meal, usually featuring turkey and ham and lots of vegetable side dishes, and pies for dessert!!! It's usually the biggest and the best meal that we make or eat all year long...:biggrin:

The holiday has really been mostly about making a big wonderful meal! :biggrin: People often extend hospitality to others who do not have families to go to, friends and coworkers, etc. Growing up, we always had foreign students and elderly or single people from church, or a neighbor or two at our family table at Thanksgiving. Many non-profit organizations and faith organizations put on BIG mega meals to feed those in need a nice turkey dinner on or just before Thanksgiving. My church gathers donations of groceries and food and prepares food boxes to give to local families in need, so that they may make their own Thanksgiving meal, as do many other groups that help people.

It also celebrates American history, as the first "thanksgiving" feast was way back when the Pilgrims hosted a harvest feast and invited the local natives to thank them for sharing local agricultural knowledge and for sharing game from their successful hunts, all of which enabled the pilgrims to survive their first hard years in America. I should say that we look back on this one day with rosy glasses and celebrate a very romanticized view of our history with the native people who were here first. The true history of our interactions with them has been brutal, but perhaps this was one shining moment in which we would like to see our collective ancestors as being better than they really were in their treatment of "others". Or possibly relations really were good with some natives at the beginning, but went downhill when there was more competition for resources, when we started taking over their country. :eyeroll:

A tiny bit more history from: http://www.theholidayspot.com/thanksgiving/national_holiday.htm

"The Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of every November. The holiday was set by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 (approved by Congress in 1941). Earlier it was the last Thursday in November as was designated by the former President Abraham Lincoln. But sometimes the last Thursday would turn out to be the fifth Thursday of the month. This falls too close to the Christmas, leaving the businesses even less than a month's time to cope up with the two big festivals. Hence the change. But irrespective of the date of celebration the Thanksgiving Day has been observed as the national holiday since the regime of Lincoln.

Several Presidents, including George Washington, made one-time Thanksgiving holidays. Although the demand for making it a regular national holiday came in from various quarters, but of little impact. In 1827, Mrs. Sarah Joseph Hale began lobbying several Presidents for the proclamation of Thanksgiving as a national holiday. It didn't see success until 1863 when Abraham Lincoln finally made it a national holiday with his 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation. So it was Lincoln who resumed the tradition. And it has continued to the present days. Probably the last Thursday of November was set by Lincoln to somewhat correlate with the anchoring of the Mayflower at Cape Cod, which occurred on November 21, 1620 as per the modern Gregorian calendar. To the Pilgrims who used the Julian calendar it was November 11."

Benjamin Franklin thought that the wild American turkey was a noble bird and wanted to make it our national symbol...(instead of the bald eagle) and I must say that this time of year, the turkey is king in imagery in popular culture and advertising.

There is always a cute and fun photo op at the White house where whoever the sitting President is gives an executive "pardon" (stay of execution) to a large living representative of the species... who then lives out it's life famously on some farm or petting zoo. :biggrin:

Okay, this is way more than most of you wanted to know about Thanksgiving, but it is also a time for interfaith prayer and counting one's blessings.

It is also the kick-off to the biggest shopping season of the year here in America, (google black Friday!) and I think Thanksgiving is somewhat commercially promoted to help put us all in a better, more expansive mood so that we will go out and SHOP, and spend more money than we would otherwise do, even during hard times...

But nonetheless, I am very grateful that we celebrate Thanksgiving! :)

antique-thanksgiving-postcard-patriotic-turkey-proclamation.jpg

Thanksgiving_antique_1909.png
vintage-postcard-thanksgiving-turkey-bicycle-187.jpg


scan00061.jpg
antique-thanksgiving-postcard-goldie-embossed-flying-turkey-pumpkin.jpg
 
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afaceinthecrowd

Gold Meritorious Patron
Well, now that I've referenced our National Holiday of Thanksgiving, it occurs to me that some folks not living in America may not know much about it or understand why we take one day each year to celebrate gratitude. So let me take a little moment to talk about our holiday of Thanksgiving...( sorry folks, it's the teacher in me! :biggrin:)

It's a harvest feast, to begin with, similar to many other harvest festivals held around the world by many cultures to celebrate the end of harvest season. America was very heavily agricultural even as much as 40 years ago...and many of us here are just one or two generations off the family farm. Take me for example, both of my parents were born on their Mid-Western family farms, and I have fond memories of visiting my Grandparents and Great Aunts and Uncles on their home places here, usually called "ranches", more so than "farms" out here in the western United States.

So the big idea of the holiday is to celebrate bringing in a good harvest. Folks travel to "home" and gather in extended family groupings for a big meal, usually featuring turkey and ham and lots of vegetable side dishes, and pies for dessert!!! It's usually the biggest and the best meal that we make or eat all year long...:biggrin:

The holiday has really been mostly about making a big wonderful meal! :biggrin: People often extend hospitality to others who do not have families to go to, friends and coworkers, etc. Growing up, we always had foreign students and elderly or single people from church, or a neighbor or two at our family table at Thanksgiving. Many non-profit organizations and faith organizations put on BIG mega meals to feed those in need a nice turkey dinner on or just before Thanksgiving. My church gathers donations of groceries and food and prepares food boxes to give to local families in need, so that they may make their own Thanksgiving meal, as do many other groups that help people.

It also celebrates American history, as the first "thanksgiving" feast was way back when the Pilgrims hosted a harvest feast and invited the local natives to thank them for sharing local agricultural knowledge and for sharing game from their successful hunts, all of which enabled the pilgrims to survive their first hard years in America. I should say that we look back on this one day with rosy glasses and celebrate a very romanticized view of our history with the native people who were here first. The true history of our interactions with them has been brutal, but perhaps this was one shining moment in which we would like to see our collective ancestors as being better than they really were in their treatment of "others". Or possibly relations really were good with some natives at the beginning, but went downhill when there was more competition for resources, when we started taking over their country. :eyeroll:

A tiny bit more history from: http://www.theholidayspot.com/thanksgiving/national_holiday.htm

"The Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of every November. The holiday was set by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 (approved by Congress in 1941). Earlier it was the last Thursday in November as was designated by the former President Abraham Lincoln. But sometimes the last Thursday would turn out to be the fifth Thursday of the month. This falls too close to the Christmas, leaving the businesses even less than a month's time to cope up with the two big festivals. Hence the change. But irrespective of the date of celebration the Thanksgiving Day has been observed as the national holiday since the regime of Lincoln.

Several Presidents, including George Washington, made one-time Thanksgiving holidays. Although the demand for making it a regular national holiday came in from various quarters, but of little impact. In 1827, Mrs. Sarah Joseph Hale began lobbying several Presidents for the proclamation of Thanksgiving as a national holiday. It didn't see success until 1863 when Abraham Lincoln finally made it a national holiday with his 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation. So it was Lincoln who resumed the tradition. And it has continued to the present days. Probably the last Thursday of November was set by Lincoln to somewhat correlate with the anchoring of the Mayflower at Cape Cod, which occurred on November 21, 1620 as per the modern Gregorian calendar. To the Pilgrims who used the Julian calendar it was November 11."

Benjamin Franklin thought that the wild American turkey was a noble bird and wanted to make it our national symbol...(instead of the bald eagle) and I must say that this time of year, the turkey is king in imagery in popular culture and advertising.

There is always a cute and fun photo op at the White house where whoever the sitting President is gives an executive "pardon" (stay of execution) to a large living representative of the species... who then lives out it's life famously on some farm or petting zoo. :biggrin:

Okay, this is way more than most of you wanted to know about Thanksgiving, but it is also a time for interfaith prayer and counting one's blessings.

It is also the kick-off to the biggest shopping season of the year here in America, (google black Friday!) and I think Thanksgiving is somewhat commercially promoted to help put us all in a better, more expansive mood so that we will go out and SHOP, and spend more money than we would otherwise do, even during hard times...

But nonetheless, I am very grateful that we celebrate Thanksgiving! :)

antique-thanksgiving-postcard-patriotic-turkey-proclamation.jpg

Thanksgiving_antique_1909.png
vintage-postcard-thanksgiving-turkey-bicycle-187.jpg


scan00061.jpg
antique-thanksgiving-postcard-goldie-embossed-flying-turkey-pumpkin.jpg

A Most Excellent Synopsis, Sis. :thumbsup::thumbsup: :clap::clap:

Thanksgiving, to me, is about the Six F’s.

Food…most of our Ancestors came from the Land of the Old World where food was not always plentiful and the Bounty of your Labor was not always all yours. In the New World food was most of the time plentiful and even if not, the Bounty of your Labor was all yours.

Faith…most of our Ancestors were people of Faith. Whether it was formal “Meeting House” Faith or Faith in Mother Earth or Faith in your Labor or Faith in your yourself or Faith in your Heart…or some or all of that, the morning Sun brought the Light of another Day filled with the Anticipation of Building a better Life.

Friends…most of our Ancestors got ‘by with a little help from” their Friends. They were helped by others and helped others get by. They shared the warmth of their hearth and sustenance of their table with others in times of scarcity, as others had shared with them.

Future…most of our Ancestors lived in climates that brought Harvest just before the Chill and gray Fallow of Winter. Whether the table was overflowing or modest to bleak there was closure on the past with Hope and Determination for the Future.

Freedom…most of our Ancestors would take nothing for Free but would work Sunup to Sundown for Freedom. They knew that Freedom came at a price and wasn’t Free and All of Us Dwell in this Wondrous Garden of Dreams from their Blood, Sweat and Tears.

Family…be it Parents, Children, Sibs or Relatives; In Common Struggles, Beliefs, Hearts or Minds; Shared Circumstances, Experiences, Interests or Needs…each one of Us is Somehow, Somewhere, Someway part of a Family. And, we are all part of the the Family of Life.

That, to me, is what Thanksgiving is all about.

Happy Thanksgiving All Y'all.

Face :)
 
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apocalyptic

Patron with Honors
A Most Excellent Synopsis, Sis. :thumbsup::thumbsup: :clap::clap:

Thanksgiving, to me, is about the Six F’s.

Food…most of our Ancestors came from the Land of the Old World where food was not always plentiful and the Bounty of your Labor was not always all yours. In the New World food was most of the time plentiful and even if not, the Bounty of your Labor was all yours.

Faith…most of our Ancestors were people of Faith. Whether it was formal “Meeting House” Faith or Faith in Mother Earth or Faith in your Labor or Faith in your yourself or Faith in your Heart…or some or all of that, the morning Sun brought the Light of another Day filled with the Anticipation of Building a better Life.

Friends…most of our Ancestors got ‘by with a little help from” their Friends. They were helped by others and helped others get by. They shared the warmth of their hearth and sustenance of their table with others in times of scarcity, as others had shared with them.

Future…most of our Ancestors lived in climates that brought Harvest just before the Chill and Fallow of Winter. Whether the table was overflowing or modest there was closure on the past with Hope and Determination for the Future.

Freedom…most of our Ancestors would take nothing for Free but would work Sunup to Sundown for Freedom. They knew that Freedom came at a price and wasn’t Free and All of Us Dwell in this Wondrous Garden of Dreams from their Blood, Sweat and Tears.

Family…be it Parents, Children, Sibs or Relatives; In Common Struggles, Beliefs, Hearts or Minds; Shared Circumstances, Experiences, Interests or Needs…each one of Us is Somehow, Somewhere, Someway part of a Family…The Family of Life.

That, to me, is what Thanksgiving is all about.

Happy Thanksgiving All Y'all.

Face :)


Nice. Very nice.

And we wonder, where was/is 'Gratitude' on Hubbard's/Scientology's emotional tone-scale of being? (human or otherwise).

Twas not.

For the simple reason the emotional/psychological human experience of gratitude opens one up to receiving higher influences from the depths and heights of their very own spiritual eternal being. Which would not have worked out well, for Ron.

Apocalyptic

being ever still grateful for the atrocities & sufferings that seem to be necessary for the spiritual development of our individual and collective being.
 

lotus

stubborn rebel sheep!
What I retain themost from your post and that I have been learned to practive with very good results in feeling more serene and joyfull is

1) to accept what it is (even if it's suffering - that is what is is NOW but only NOW)

* I would add - as long as we stop fighting and try to change a condition we have no power on we create more suffering as sometimes, in our life, it's better to be flexible than rigid and break - all situations and phenomenons are changing .

* I have a condition that makes me very very sick few days a month.
It was today - very painfull - I am left very weak and the next few day will be to get back on my feet. When it was the worst I said'' well , It's the end of the worst I guess - and the beginning a few weeks better'' It's the only way I can make it through without loosing courage. I accept it and know it comes and go.
My old father called me and he said '' Oh I know this voice - you are not good - I know you suffer - you are my little courageous one''
It was like a hug. :)


Also, when you speak of harvest.
It remembers me a master I used to eat with in his temple . We wouldn't talk when eating. He start to learn us to take time to understand all the food we eat has an origin and to trace all the people and work , earth, rain , sun necessary to make it possible to eat that food. It raise the awareness instantly.

It make us really gratefull

It makes us avoid any waiste and feel that we are lucky to have all this

It also make us aware the we have to be that generous with others to contribute a better life for them too.

(no need here for a MAA of ethics - confessional and sec checking or RPF - a simple exercice of raising the awareness out of mental agitation and it works)

Some christians practice it before eating - the thanks all people for making this meal possible

Anyway

It makes simple things precious and our attention is to enjoy it and we are left with not that much space in our mind to starve for illusionsons or new things to possess.

* Guarantee - no need anymore for a bridge to freedom - as you already know were your freedom sits with these type of practices

Good Bye :)
 
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