Let Every Day Be Thanksgiving! 5 Reasons to Cultivate Gratitude as a Life Practice

Make me sweet again

fragrant and fresh and wild

and thankful for any small event.

– Rumi

This month many of us come together with loved ones and devote our awareness for a few hours to thankfulness. Perhaps your family, like mine, joins hands and takes turns sharing what each one is grateful for, today and over the past year. And whether you have a formal or informal practice of expressing gratitude at your Thanksgiving table, I’m sure you feel the energy of gratitude throughout your celebration.

But why do we reserve a mere one day a year for this?

I propose we make every day a day of giving thanks.

Let’s make GRATITUDE a way of LIFE!

Oh, we don’t have to stuff ourselves with stuffing and gobble down turkey or vegetarian delectables… Somehow I think the original intention of the holiday, gratitude for the Earth’s bounty, for peaceful, harmonious coexistence, for life itself, has gotten lost in all the gluttony and football games.

Let’s remember the true spirit of Thanksgiving, not only on the holiday, but throughout our lives.

To be full of greatness, we must be grateful.

We must laugh and

We must sing.

We are blest by everything.

Everything we look upon is blest.

– William Butler Yeats

So why should we practice gratitude more often? Here are 5 good reasons and the amazing benefits of the Gratitude Attitude:

1. You will feel happier.

When we focus on how full our cups already are, we experience life in a much more positive way. Most of us do not have cups that are half full, half empty, as the saying goes. Our cups are 90% full!

Look around you. Look within you. How full is your cup?

The Universe is showering blessings upon you each and every day, each and every moment, and we can choose to see and appreciate these gifts or remain unconscious, cranky and unfulfilled. Enough kvetching already!

Do you want to be (more) happy? Present? Peaceful? Satisfied and even joyful?

Gratitude is the fastest, most effective way to increase your sense of joy about the life you are already living.

2. Gratitude facilitates more harmony in relationships.

Expressing gratitude and appreciation to the people in our lives, of course in a sincere way, from the heart, improves our relationships. As a relationship coach, I have seen that the simple practice of focusing on the positive and expressing true appreciation can dramatically improve marriages, friendships and even work relationships.

This doesn’t mean you have to “suck it up” and put up with being disrespected or abused. If your relationship brings you more pain than joy, you will need in-depth counseling and much more than just a “focus on the positive” band-aid. (And sometimes we need to take some space or a “break” from a relationship to allow ourselves to heal and not feel so triggered, even get in-depth healing to address underlying causes whether they are past-life, ancestral, childhood, etc.)

But for most generally healthy relationships, sprinkling more: “Thank you so much for doing that!”s and “I really appreciate…”s, expressing the love in your heart can do wonders.

Many of us take so much for granted, particularly from the people we love the most. Everyone needs to feel seen, heard and valued and this enhances intimacy and emotional safety, bringing you closer.

My husband and I were recently featured in a wonderful book called A Golden Love, as an example couple living a relationship of extraordinary harmony. In part this is due to the fact that I with the life partner who truly is right for me (I love helping people manifesting their Divine Right Mate as I have!) but in part it is due to the fact that we NURTURE our relationship so it is truly an elation-ship, a vehicle for happiness, individually and as a partnership and family. We give thanks to God/Universe every single day for the gift of our love, we give thanks to one another often.

Gratitude is essential and makes all the difference. (Below is a photo of us many years ago, doing a tantric heart meditation together…)

3. God/The Universe will bestow more blessings upon you.

I don’t claim to be in charge of the Universe, but it is a universal spiritual law that the more thankful we are, the more blessings we receive!

It’s as if remembering to say “Thank you!” opens the faucet of life’s blessings. I truly have noticed that when we live more gratefully, not only are we more aware of what is already present; there is also an actual increase in things to be thankful FOR.

What you think about, and thank about, you bring about. – Dr. John Demartini

Perhaps our Creator appreciates being appreciated, just as we do, and is more inclined to give more of the good stuff to us when we really appreciate what we get. As Neal Donald Walsch, author of Conversations with God, says, the correct prayer is one of gratitude.

There is an old Jewish proverb that goes like this. Two men, equally poor (or equally rich, depending on your perspective) meet in the village. The first man says, “So how is it going with you?”

The second man replies, “Oy! Life is terrible. My wife is sick, my cow won’t give milk, and business is lousy.”

God, hearing his response, thinks “Why you ingrate! I just gave you a new house, healed your ulcer, and found the best husband for your daughter. So you think things are bad now? I’ll give you something to complain about!”

Finally, the second man stops his kvetching and asks the other fellow, “What about you?”

“Well, I tell you, life is so good.  We fixed the leak in my pipes so now my house is dry again. I had a nice Sabbath with my wife and children, a humble meal, but we are together. My horse, well, his leg is still broken but he’s such a good friend to me, and I know business will pick up soon,” his neighbor replies.

God smiles and thinks, “So you think things are good now? I’ll give you something to be thankful for!”

So whether you think of the source of blessings as God, the Universe, or your own intention, gratitude is an essential key to loving your life, and it opens the door to greater and greater blessings, creating a positive spiral that continues to build.

Here is a wonderful message I channeled for you from Archangel Michael:

G O D =   Gratitude Opening Doors!

As William Blake said, “The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.”

So open the doors, open the faucets, open your heart and your hands and give thanks, give thanks, and give thanks even more. And you will have so much for to give thanks for!

4. You will also receive more of what you want from the people in your life.

Of course, this applies on the human level as well as the spiritual level.

Have you ever had a friend of family member that you gave gifts to, but who never remembered to thank you? Didn’t you feel after a while, “Hey, why should I bother giving them anything? They never even appreciate it.” And after a while, you feel resentful and stop giving them gifts, am I right? I thought so. This is totally natural.

Therefore, when we appreciate what we receive, whether tangible or intangible, from others, we actually receive more because we are more give-to-able. We receive with an open heart and open hands, with a smile. People love to give, and there is a great gift in being a giver, but only when we sense that the gift is truly received and appreciated.

It’s important to receive graciously, compliments and favors as well as physical presents.

How well you receive compliments symbolizes how well you receive love.

Practice being a wide receiver. – Alan Cohen

If you tend to inwardly doubt or “Yeah, but…” when people praise you, you have some deep self-love work to do. If you’ve been a “giveaholic” and have a hard time with boundaries, if you sometimes doubt your own worthiness, or if you feel disconnected from your joy & inner peace, I suggest you deepen your self-love and ability to RECEIVE and enJOY your life with the NEW Radiant Radical Self-Love Immersion – A POWERFUL yet PLAYFUL pathway to unconditional self-love and creating the life of your dreams, from the inside out! (The course also makes a wonderful holiday gift for someone you love who needs to love themselves and their lives more.)

This self-love course took me 14 years to create and has been called “My manual for a happy life” and “The best self-help book and program EVER!”

If you happen to be seeing this while a promotion is in effect, for example right now at Thanksgiving Weekend through “Cyber Monday”, it’s 25% off instantly, you will save on the tuition, which is already quite affordable for such a life-changing program.

Go here to find out more about The Radiant Radical Self-Love Immersion:
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5. It’s just plain polite to be thankful.

Courtesy. Etiquette. Manners.
It’s the right thing to do.

It also sets a good example for others, of all ages.
‘Nuf said.

So join me this month and always in cocreating a more positive life experience for yourself and our world – by making every day thanks-giving!

If this piece inspired you in some way, or you have your own gratitude stories to share, please comment below.

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THANK YOU for reading my blog today!

Blessings & blissings to you!

Love,

Sage

Beauty is simply reality seen with the eyes of love. – Evelyn Underhill

This article was excerpted largely from The Radical Self-Love Guidebook (formerly Workbook),
copyright 2008-2014
now part of the RADIANT RADICAL SELF-LOVE IMMERSION

By Rev. Sage Taylor Kingsley-Goddard

****************

Rev. Sage Taylor Kingsley-Goddard, CHT, RM, known as the The Prosperous Goddess™, is a 6-figure Abundance Acceleration & Business Coach, award-winning Law of Attraction expert, and highly gifted Archangel Michael Channel & Emissary. A #1 best-selling author, Sage manifested her Twin Flame soulmate, now husband of 18 years, using the techniques she teaches. Sage uniquely integrates intuitive aura & chakra readings with Intuitive Angelic Miracle (I AM) healing & Spirit-guided coaching to help her clients manifest the Love, Joy & Abundance they desire. Sage is a Reiki Master Teacher, Money Reiki Master, hypnotherapist, author, speaker and dynamic catalyst. Sage passionately empowers you to connect with your angels, PROSPER, THRIVE & SHINE! www.AngelicAbundanceActivator.com/freegifts.html

Copyright Rev. “Sage” Taylor Kingsley-Goddard 2009-2016

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