Finding Gratitude — Thanksgiving 2020

Look for the silver linings

Here in the U.S., it’s the week of Thanksgiving. We are in a time that continues to be like no other. My state is advising that we cancel this holiday this year…

We might not celebrate, might not gather together over a big feast, but I look to continue the tradition of giving thanks.

I haven’t written much about gratitude. But I live with it each day.

In my state, we have now entered what is called Phase 3 Mitigation, our owner of the massage clinic, along with many other small businesses are doing all that is necessary to remain open.

I started to feel pre lockdown vibes a week ago Tuesday. I noticed that it was the 17th. And to the day, eight months ago (3/17), I walked out of our clinic for what I thought would be a two-week SIP (Shelter in Place) and returned three months later…

Eight months ago…seems so much longer…yet here we are again — living in fear and in the unknown. Talk of potentially having to shut our doors. Talk of the businesses that if that happened, would not be able to survive. Talk of unemployment — could we even get back on and if so, what would it pay?

Talk of the holidays here in the U.S. and how they would be like no other. The businesses, like our clinic, that depend on holiday sales and now the challenge of what this Phase 3 will bring for us.

Not everyone will be infected with the virus, but everyone is affected by the virus…

When we closed the clinic in March, I walked out the door as a salaried employee. My mother, though in a wheelchair, was mobile enough to get around. She was missing her husband, my father, who had passed four months prior.

Eight months later, I sit here at work with a phone that’s not ringing. I’m doing the same job, now at an hourly rate. The business has been hurt being closed for three months.

My mother is now bedridden. Sometimes it’s hard to understand her. Has she suffered a stroke? We are not sure as we cannot get her to a neurologist. She is getting closer to reuniting with her husband, my father, who now has been gone a year.

We all have our stories of what 2020 has brought to us.

What I am asking is for you to see it in a NEW way. As the late, great Wayne Dyer would say,

“Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.”

That quote has been life-changing for me. I’ve been down the road of despair and uncertainty for years. Could it have been so that I can help others now in these times?

I’m using tools now that helped me then. And techniques that continue to help me see that life as happening for and not to us. When you change your view — you see a bigger picture.

This raises our vibration so that we are on the frequency of attracting more of what we want — instead of what we don’t want. Make sense? Think of the old radios and how we had to tune in to just the right frequency to pick up the station we wanted.

We are all frequencies and we are always tuning in — whether we realize it or not. If we look at our life with despair, we will see more things that confirm that our life will continue in despair.

If we look at things with gratitude, we will be tuned into seeing more things to be grateful for.

Gratitude is THE attitude and one of the most powerful tools in our toolbox to turn our thoughts around, and turn our life around. With that said, you might think — gratitude in these times? We all know that it’s much easier to find gratitude when all is going well.

What I like to work with is finding gratitude when life is messy— to look for and find that silver lining. When I worked at WW, I helped so many see the positive. See the gift in what life was bringing in. Move out of fear and into love.

To realize that we are in it but not of it. My take on the bible quote with the meaning that we can look at our life circumstances and take a step back. Be the observer.

And here’s how it works. I shared my experiences with you — and now I want to share my view of those experiences.

Starting with my parents. Though I miss my dad each day, I am grateful that he did not suffer. He passed peacefully with my mom and me by his side. I am grateful to have had such a wonderful father and that’s what I am focusing on — his life, not his death.

Same with my mom. She’s had mobility challenges for years and while she is here, I am enjoying her. Granted, it’s not easy to see her decline, but I am looking past the life experience. When she passes, she will be with my dad once again. She is a wonderful mother and I am focusing on what’s best for her — not on what I wish could be and the sadness that I feel as it’s not.

Both of these examples do not mean I didn’t or won’t grieve — I just won’t stay there. I want to celebrate these two beautiful people and how they are/were the best parents for me.

And with my job — you could say it’s unfair to do the same work with less pay. In these times, I am grateful to be working, and I know the finances will work themselves out. That the Universe has my back. I am also moving (step by step) closer to starting my own business.

Right now, I am here at our clinic bringing light and love to everyone I can, whether staff or clients. I feel that is what I am supposed to do and why I am still here. I choose to look at it this way.

No matter what we go through — we will get through…and grow through.

I look for gratitude every day — in fact, it has become a mantra for me. Throughout the day I find myself thinking: I am grateful.

To me, Thanksgiving is about gratitude. My favorite holiday— no gifts, just the gift of time with loved ones.

It seems like Thanksgiving the last so many years has become the big meal before the real holiday — Black Friday. And more recently, stores open on Thanksgiving. This holiday has become overlooked in many ways.

Could Thanksgiving 2020 bring back the celebration of the holiday? Granted we are encouraged to not gather, but we could zoom or make phone calls…

… Could we celebrate this holiday like it once was celebrated? With a focus on what we have instead of what we want?

If you have a roof over your head, some food on the table, clean water and a comfortable room temperature — you have a lot… We take for granted what some might consider the basics until we don’t have them.

We all have our stories — we need to move past those stories and create the life we desire. I feel 2020 is shaking us all — are you going to rise up?

It’s your choice — based on your view. How do you choose to see things?

And where is your silver lining?

It might be really hard to find, but there’s one. Sometimes we find it afterwards — not at the moment. That’s what happened after my ex left. I realized it was a blessing in disguise.

I think of disguises. The masks we wear — and the masks beneath that mask. What are you covering? Could this time be of service in moving you forward? Of releasing, of opening up?

We are making history right now. And though we are at the point where we are ready for this to really be history, can you view this time with fascination?

I heard Michael Singer (author of The Untethered Soul) share how to just observe this time we are in — without judgement. Did we ever think we would be in a time like this? Wearing a mask out in public? Places closed, shelves empty? During the lockdown, I took some pictures to mark history from my view.

And my view will continue to be filled with gratitude. This time has helped me to grow. This time has helped me to slow down. This time has helped me become more creative. This time has connected me with some fabulous people in ILLUMINATION.

Regardless of what is happening, I am grateful for this time.

Thank you for spending some time with me. For reading, supporting, and commenting. I am so grateful that we are together during this time. More than I could ever put into words…

If you are NEW to me, let me introduce myself:

Please join me on Facebook, for the NEW Minutes with Michele where I do a Monday evening Live based on my published articles. Replays available.

You can also find me Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, My Website.

And it’s with much gratitude that I thank my fabulous writer friends — and share their work with you: Trista Ainsworth, Gurpreet Dhariwal, Amy Marley, Aurora Eliam, CMP, Kathryn A. LeRoy, PhD, Desiree Driesenaar, Selma, Keno Ogbo, Nomanono Isaacs, Dipti Pande, Francine Fallara, Sandra Szubert, Erin King, Karen Madej, Ann K Frailey, Sumera Rizwan, MaryJo Wagner, PhD, Britni Pepper, Chowa Sekai, Ksenia Sein, Alison Tennent, Livia Dabs, Neha Sandhir S, Lanu Pitan, Sherry S, Agnes Louis, Chris Hedges, Paul Myers MBA, P.G. Barnett, Terry Mansfield, Rasheed Hooda, Henery X (long), Timothy Key, Tim Maudlin, Bob Jasper, John Ross, Joe Luca, JeffHerring.com

Always grateful for Dr Mehmet Yildiz, Founder & Leader of ILLUMINATION

Until next time ~

Sending you light, love — and much gratitude.

Be Well,