I love Thanksgiving!! The “aaahhhh” of Thanksgiving nestled between the “eeekk” of Halloween and the “wowww” of Christmas! Gratitude is such a soft emotion, a being instead of a doing. The more I focus on being thankful, the more all that I think I need to do, pursue, achieve and buy falls away. But it’s so soft that sometimes I find it easier to move back to the drumbeat of doing!
Last night Miss O chose a bath bomb for her bath, a small blue one that melts away to reveal a small sponge animal in the middle. There is a lot of delight in seeing what’s inside but when the creature was a swan that she already has, I thought we were headed for disappointment instead of surprise. But she said, “Oh, a baby swan to go with the mommy swan” and I was blown away by the demonstration of how the narrative matters.
So I connect with hemming our blessings with thankfulness – an act of staying with the gratitude so that we weave our narrative based on our blessings, not our disappointments. Happy Thanksgiving!
Surprised By Joy 