Thanks-Giving

What does Thanks-Giving mean to you?

Thanks-Giving

You may have noticed I hyphenated the famous Holiday of Thanksgiving in the title.

Have you ever taken a moment to ask yourself what is the meaning of Thanksgiving?

I think it really has a dual meaning of being thankful for what you have and then giving!

Well, that may seem like a no brainer to you, right?

What I really want to talk about today though is twofold, first the thanks and then the giving!

I think we all say grace, have a moment of gratitude or how ever you call it and think that is saying thank you for our blessings or gifts, right?

Is just taking that moment really enough to set into your soul how much you really have to be grateful for?

Let’s look at that! 

You may have a moment where you say I am grateful for being healthy while someone else is grateful their biopsy came back clean. Then we could look from the person grateful for a clean biopsy as opposed to the person who is told they have stage one cancer, and it is treatable. Contrast that to the person who has just found out they have weeks to live, then contrast that with the person who has just been told their child has weeks to live. Do you see from this example how each person could have a level of gratitude even when face with worse news than the other.  I don’t know about you, but I am very grateful to wake up each day knowing that I am grateful for being healthy. I mean truly grateful because even that which we take for granted would be someone else’s greatest prayer or a dream come true for them.

This is where the understanding of gratitude really plays in. I know we all face tough times and challenges but when we find something to be grateful for it eases that and reminds you that problems are not permanent unless you make them that way.

So, when something does not go as planned or you have a challenge to overcome would it be safe to say of you face it with the wind of gratitude at your back that it would ease the process?

Wow, this seems a little heavy feeling today, yes?

Initially that is what I intended for you to feel. This is so you can learn to always appreciate what is good before dealing with the challenges of life.

Another example is you buy you kid a car and a week later they are in a crash, and you go to the hospital, and you are going to give them hell for being so irresponsible (The assumption is you already know they are pretty much ok). As you are walking in and preparing you speech to them, you overhear a doctor tell a parent they did everything they could but they could save their child…At that moment you rush in your child’s room grab them and hold them tight and thank you God, your creator that they are ok and you no longer give …. About the damaged car.

What if your first though had been gratitude that your child wasn’t seriously injured without the wake up call you saw going in?  What if we approached more in life form the side of gratitude? Maybe we would nit sweat some of the small stuff that would reduce our stress and truly make us happier.

So, Coach are you saying gratitude fosters happiness? YES!

Remember there is a part two here as well….Giving!

What is giving? How do you define it?  Does it have a monetary value?

There are two levels to giving

• The tangible, this is giving money, gifts and so forth. This is a measurable and sometimes a transactional way of giving. This can lead to a well “I did this for you, what’s in it for me” situation. Not always but truthfully quite often.
• Giving of you. This may be more intangible but even more effective at times. The gift of wisdom, guidance, unconditional love, and teaching falls under this category.  These are lasting gifts that can stay with someone for a lifetime. I love to hear from someone that the day they turned their life around was when I said “xyz” to them and the spurred a decision to change in them.  There was a situation once and I don’t want to be specific but something I did as part of business spurred someone to come to me for coaching and later, they admitted they were on the way to “end it” when they came across the moment to interact with me and that our conversation turned their life back to worth living!  That is being able to give a gift that has no price tag!

Now there are times when a combination of giving works best and you just never know the great affect of giving a moment of time, a great piece of advice and yes sometime a tangible gift makes the difference too!

So, as we round the bend to our Thanksgiving time how can you find more to be thankful for and give more that has meaning?

First make a list of what you truly have to be grateful for, yes even in the tumultuous times we are living in there is a lot to be grateful for

Second who can you give something to that will make a difference?

Some people would interpret this to mean take from those who have and give to those who don’t. Seems to be a trend the media and certain world faction would like you to believe. Take from the rich and give to the poor. The problem with that is…. That never works because hand outs create dependency.  Want to help the poor and those who struggle? Teach them to want and do better by taking part in their own growth and give them the opportunity to do so. If someone is willing to improve themselves give them the ability to do so. Do not reward lazy but give a hand up to someone willing to move forward!

This is the meaning of giving, give an opportunity not a handout!

So, I will ask again who can you give to today to help them be grateful so they too will have something to give?

Remember healing, opportunity and growth starts with you, your family, your local community, and your country not the other way around.

It is not until you have the thanks that you can do the giving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

My friends this is not always going to be an easy journey but I can’t stress enough that you get one life, this is not a rehearsal for the next go round!  Live you life today like it matters because it does and it is the only one you get! 

With that all said make sure to watch the video, take action today, get some coaching and step up to the life you desire and deserve!

Live with faith, energy, passion and always live your dreams!

-Coach Lew