THANKSGIVING THOUGHTS...

Though I truly love Christmas as the birth celebration of Jesus Christ who is the Light of the World, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

I'm pretty sure that started happening when I was a little girl, and I experienced some of those special November holidays many times and with many different people in ways that have brought indelible memories of family and friends--and a realization that gratitude cannot be bound only to one day in a year.

Once again, this year in a reflective moment after the turkey dinner was over, my thoughts wandered to some of the truly magnificent words that have been written about thanksgiving and gratitude.  But since I no longer have collections of people with whom I have opportunity to converse, (like children living at home, flying partners on the United jump seat, and even close friends), I decided to share a few of my favorite quotes on this printed page.  

I hope some of them resonate with you as you think of your own reasons for being thankful and grateful in spite of the fact not every day is full of blue skies and sunshine.

It is not

JOY

that makes us

GRATEFUL;

it is

GRATITUDE

that makes us

JOYFUL.

GORDON B. HINCKLEY

"Give Thanksgiving on [your] knees, then stand and move forward to accomplish the Lord's purposes....

The giving of thanks to Deity is essentially a religious act.  It is an acknowledgement of the belief...in the generous outpouring of the blessings of God upon us as a nation.  It is a most remarkable and wonderful thing that the people of the United States of America have written into their law, as well as into their custom, the setting aside of a day to honor, acknowledge, and thank the Father of us all for His beneficence unto us.  I hope that this unusual holiday is so ingrained into our national culture that it will never be removed or challenged in any way."

SARAH BAN BREATHNACH

"The concerto of "Real Life" is playing.  Delight with Thanksgiving in the major and minor chords of its beautiful refrain."

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

"I awoke this morning with devout Thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.  Shall I not call God the Beautiful, who daily showeth himself so to me in his gifts?

ALMA 34:38

...Receive the Holy Ghost and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.

Aphorism Gems

 A Friday afternoon discovery....

My side of the big roll-top desk in our home office where the computer resides gets kind of sloppy sometimes.  Okay...most of the time. 

I'll be working on some project, or I receive a piece of mail, or have a document I want to check over again, so I just set it aside with the idea I will get to it when I have more time.  More often than not, the stuff that isn't a bill or eminently important to take care of right that minute gets dumped on--literally--as I continue to pile one item on top of another. 

Today was one of those days it was necessary to dig into that pile trying to find something I set aside a few weeks ago.  Not only did I find the item I was looking for, but I also found a lot of other items (some from a LONG time ago) like emails I printed so they could be saved and reread and insights from reading or studying from online sources. 

I have spent the last hour perusing and reviewing and enjoying many of them all over again.  Not all of those items have a logical place to be filed except into a big folder that is labeled: "Quotes".  But then they get lost there, too, because I am no longer in the business of writing and needing material to support some of my thoughts on a regular basis like I used to be.  Consequently, they are apt to be "lost" again for a while.

A few years ago, I wrote a blog about my being an aphorism addict.  THAT hasn't changed any.  I still am.  So, today I am taking the opportunity to share a couple of those aphorisms that were on my no-longer- sloppy-side of the desk.  I straightened up that pile while I was enjoying a few minutes of catchy phrases and bits and pieces of electronic correspondence I also saved.

This one is from Elia Gourgouris, PhD, a trusted friend and counselor who now spends his time helping people find happiness in the everyday of their lives.  He calls it "mindset coaching".  His motto is, "Every single day matters!"  How true!

And this next one was written on a pad of paper with no other notation.  

I like the wisdom of it, too.   Applicable in so much of life!

A  TEAM  is not a group of people who work together.

A  TEAM  is a group of people who trust each other.

I hope you will delight in these little gems as much as I enjoyed discovering them once again in that sloppy pile on my desk.  It was...

TIME WELL SPENT!