But It’s Up to Us to Decide
Yesterday was the Thanksgiving holiday for US. This brings the topic of giving thanks to the forefront of our thoughts. These discussions are every where and for a variety of reasons. Some are as simple as to remind us to be thankful. Some are using this as a marketing plan.
I received a lot of different Thanksgiving themed emails over the last week. Many had fantastic thanks giving messages. One was from one of my favorite authors, Andy Andrews. It was his weekly podcast titled, “A Thanksgiving State of Mind”. In this podcast Andy shares a story about finding thankfulness when you’ve lost your grateful spirit.
My fondness for Andy started with the reading of his book, “The Traveler’s Gift”. This book is about how one man’s choices made the difference between success and failure. I read it a little under six years ago while recovering from a concussion. I attribute much of my increased level of giving thanks to the connection I found with this story and my injury. It gave me a new appreciation for the gift of life that we have been given. Much of this improved awareness I can attribute to the 
“Seven Decisions” in the “Traveler’s Gift”.
Being THANKFUL is a CHOICE we make. We can DECIDE how we are going to live.
The Thanksgiving holiday in the United States started being officially celebrated in 1789, as proclaimed by George Washington. It was to commemorate the Pilgrims giving thanks for the harvest in 1621. We all have things to be thankful for. We just need to slow down long enough to think about it and to remember.
Why is it important to give thanks? – If we are giving thanks, we are acknowledging that there is someone to give thanks to. This acknowledgement is critical to our living a well-focused life. This is the understanding that everything we have and everything that we are comes from God.
Kenneth Copeland lists 5 benefits of thanks giving as:
- Thanksgiving brings God on the scene – Entering into thanksgiving you invite God’s presence into your life.
- Thanksgiving puts challenges in perspective – It reminds us of how powerful God is.
- Thanksgiving focuses your mind on the right subject – It helps us refocus our attention on the One who is greater than every challenge.
- Thanksgiving strengthens your faith – It reminds us of all that God has done and all that He will do.
- Thanksgiving is a weapon against the enemy’s maneuvers – When giving God praise our enemies will be turned back.
We have the “super-power” of choice at our discretion. We can choose to be THANKFUL or not. By choosing to GIVE THANKS we unleash God’s benefits in our lives and to all of those we connect with.
I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and that you will remember to give thanks all year long.