If you have been following Meditation Bench’s posts closely throughout the year, you probably know by now that our shop manager - Jaya - and I are both from Argentina. Argentina, like many other countries, doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving or has a day when the spirit of giving thanks is celebrated.

But after living in the States for about 5 years, and following a spiritual path, this celebration started to have a special place in my heart. It’s meaning, for me, goes beyond the celebration day in itself. I appreciate that having so many other celebrations or commemorative days in the year, we also have a day to consciously give thanks.

This year has been deeply challenging for everyone, and it can be just as challenging to think “What am I grateful for this year?” But let’s think about it because the “attitude” of feeling and being grateful opens up a world of possibilities for growth, prosperity, and wellbeing. It is the attitude of the mind to find positivity and beauty in the midst of the chaos that will bring us closer to our higher goals in life.

But let's not make this celebration a one-day event. There is a day after Thanksgiving, and another, and another...in fact, there are 364 days to be more or less exact. What about them? Let’s use them, to continue practicing our gratitude for everything we have in life! Maybe it is your family, a friend, your health, your home, nourishment in the form of food on your table, or a massage. Maybe you don’t have any of these, and your life’s situation isn’t so comforting right now, but you do have this moment. And this moment you are reading these words of gratitude from someone who has known some level of challenge in her life and can say that she is grateful for all of it. Because it was this same attitude that brought her to the other shore, and boundless help when she needed it.

You are not alone, not now or ever, because there is an all abiding Eternal Presence of Love and Joy that lives equally within us all. And in that Presence, we are One.

Happy Thanksgiving!...

...Today and the days after.