Thankful for Thanksgiving
Today is Thanksgiving! A day full of good food and good company, but mostly, a day to give thanks for everything we have in our lives. With some spare time between bites of turkey or pumpkin pie, pay forward some gratitude today, for the sake of paying respects to the people, pets, or things in your life, but also to yourself. It has a powerful effect on the mind and body.
One of the best ways to cultivate gratitude is by writing down things your are grateful for. Do it on a daily basis by writing down three positive experiences of that day. The power of writing makes you mentally think about each experience and seeing the visual of the words will help you to remember it. Recording these positive experiences boots levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, self esteem, energy, and overall happiness... literally. Research shows that recording three positive experiences daily, for which one is grateful for, for two consecutive weeks, has lasting positive effects for up to six months. Research also shows that our thoughts have the power to shape our brains... lets emphasize this... our thoughts have the power to shape our brains! A brilliant book, Think and Grow Rich (don't be thrown off by the name), by Napoleon Hill, describes the power of thoughts and ways to cultivate them to change your mental state. To further this topic, Lynne McTaggart wrote:
" A sizable body of research exploring the nature of consciousness, carried on for more than thirty years in prestigious scientific institutions around the world... suggests that human thoughts and intentions are an actual physical "something" with astonishing power to change our world. Every thought we have is tangible energy with the power to transform. A thought is not only a thing; a thought is a thing that influences other things."
So as your go about your day and your days to come, think of three things you are grateful for and write them down. Those thoughts will start to shape your brain positively, inevitably, shaping your world more positively.
As for today and everyday, we are unconditionally grateful for our families. One particular weekend to be grateful for was when Jamie's parents came to visit. We drove up the coast to Crescent City to spend an extended weekend hiking the Redwood National Forest. The forest is home to the tallest trees on earth, making it beyond magical and surreal. We spent our days hiking the trails at Prairie Creek State Park and Jedediah Smith Woods Park, with a good 14 miles per day- allotted time for taking a million pictures! During this time we made our way to a couple beautiful beaches, listened to seals talk, gambled (and won $3!!), made wishes in a river surrounded by ferns, built a cairn (pile of stones), discovered banana slugs, dug for buried treasure, walked on a fallen Redwoods, and drove our car through a tree, literally. Thanks mom and dad for this brilliant weekend!
