No Thanks?

How do you measure happiness?  Are you happy?  Maybe a better question is, are you thankful?  A recent study came to my attention that said a person’s happiness was directly related to their level of thankfulness.  Interesting…is thanksgiving only a day we celebrate once a year, or is it an attitude that we carry with us every day through the year?

We say ‘thank you’ to the barista at Starbucks and ‘thank you’ to the dry cleaner but how often do we say it to those we love?  There’s a tradition in our culture to express our admiration and gratitude to loved ones after they pass away, but what if we didn’t wait til then?

Being thankful changes our worldview.  It moves us from having tunnel vision to panoramic vision.  It forces us to look up and look around.  To be thankful, we have to notice things and people.  It pulls us out of our egocentricity to a place where we focus on others and see that there are really great things in this world, and really great people.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful tradition that began centuries ago by two very different people groups coming together and sharing the bounty of what they had, but maybe it’s time to change the tradition a little.  Instead of celebrating the bounty from our table, maybe we should celebrate the bounty in our lives; instead of waiting to be thankful one day, maybe we should try to be thankful every day.  Let the gratitude pour out til it overflows and see what happens…maybe you’ll feel really, really happy (or maybe you’ll make some one else feel that way!).

I want to take this opportunity to thank each one of you–not just for your business–but for allowing me the privilege of entering into your lives at such a significant juncture in your timeline.  It has truly been my pleasure!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

PS>>Check out this inspiring youtube video about the “Science of Happiness”…