Gratitude

Sometimes I just have to shake my head at myself when I realize how hard I make life on myself. It's so silly that it takes a label on one day of the year like "Thanksgiving" to get me to realize how incredibly blessed I am. How much of a happier person would I be and how much of a happier outlook on life would I have if instead of starting everyday with "what do I have to do" I got out of bed and asked myself "what do I get to do today"? What I realized today, as I was missing loved ones far away and growing closer to the ones I have here and eating delicious food and taking my turn listing all of the things I'm thankful for, is that life is more than our endless "to do" lists. My life is more than the tests I have to take and the papers I have to write and hoops I have to jump through to "get somewhere" in life. I already am somewhere in life. I'm happy and healthy with goals and dreams and the ability to laugh and cry and wonder at the little mystery and miracle that my life is. I feel as though if people didn't wait until Thanksgiving to appreciate their lives then we would have a lot more happy people in the world rather than haggard, busy and depressed people. So take this Thanksgiving Day and make it a habit in your life. All of those bright and wonderful things in your life are more than capable of out shining the darkness as long as you know they are there. So to be trite, carry an attitude of gratitude within your heart, it will amaze how light and happy it feels.

Purposes

Sometimes I feel as though I'm surrounded by thousands of people unaware of the bigger and beautiful thing around them going on called life. People are so consumed with their meaningless conversations and agendas that they let the chatter and noise fill up their souls and they become separated from what the purpose of their existence is. It's not about what your friends are doing this weekend, or the next test you have in class, or that date you so desperately want on Friday. Our purpose is to move with the rhythm of our every day tasks without forgetting our own beat, and the beauty of noticing another's unique beat. It's taking a moment to notice the peace and quiet that is present in the world, but we're just too busy listening to our i-pods or playing our games to notice it. We say we're busy but we always find time to do such purposeless things. I miss the days that when a song came on or someone picked up a guitar we stopped and listened to the transcending power of communication music possesses rather than using it as an excuse to talk louder and longer about the pointless details of our busy lives that we purposely make busy to feel complete. We don't have to be busy and consumed with tasks and to-do lists to find our purpose. We simply need quiet and peace and a mind to contemplate ourselves and our potential and than, our purpose just lines up in our hearts and minds, right alongside our inner peace.