Thanksiving: 3 Perspectives & Practices

Thanksgiving is a very special time of the year in America, and I want to share with you some perspectives on a practice that we can use—and probably should use—every day throughout the year. We can begin a 21-day practice this Thanksgiving to gauge the effects of this particular practice upon our lives or, at the very least, engage in some adaptation of it and gain a discovery as a result.

At the heart of the practice is gratitude, which is similar to giving thanks. Another word is "appreciation." The practice is really about learning to be thankful and appreciative no matter what the circumstances are, and this is something to be done every day.

Thanksgiving can be a time to place a particular emphasis on gratitude and appreciation for the many gifts of life, particularly family and human relationships, and it can also serve as an opportunity to consider how we approach our daily lives.

However, Holidays come and go. Whether Thanksgiving, Diwali, Christmas, or New Year, it's easy to bring awareness to something particular at that time, and then it goes cold, gets shelved, and placed on the back burner. Why should our gratitude-giving lose its intensity and concentration? There are no practices worth doing for just a day or two or three.

It's the cumulative effect and consistency of practice that builds substance and develops our character. And because gratitude is directly related to the cultivation of abundance consciousness, it is worth honing this practice on a daily basis.