Thankfulness: A Love Story (Part 2)

grat·i·tude (n): the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful

After returning from a wonderful holiday getaway with friends - camping, feasting and hiking on the Central California coast - I want to revisit the topic of thankfulness and it's power.

People with a strong sense of gratitude, love and appreciation don't necessarily have more than others.  They aren't "luckier". They simply recognize and see more beauty in their lives.

Gratitude attracts what we want.  It's the universal law of attraction at work. When you're consciously aware of your blessings, and are grateful for them, you're focusing more clearly on what you do want in your life - and are attracting more of those things into your life.

Gratitude reduces negativity.  It's hard to be negative about your situation when you're thinking about things you're grateful for. One of the fastest ways to improve your mood is to count your blessings.

Gratitude improves problem solving skills. Too often we look at problem solving with a "something is wrong" mindset. Then, we have to put in effort to fix it. Conversely, when we think about what we're grateful for we open our minds to new possibilities. We also enter a problem solving situation with a perspective of improvement and opportunity rather than challenge.

Gratitude improves relationships. A little "thank you" goes a long way.  Make people feel special and appreciated.  Be grateful for people, their contributions, their talents and their actions.
  
Gratitude helps us learn. Behind every problem lies an opportunity. Being grateful for our situation - even if we don't like everything about it - allows us to be thankful for the opportunity to learn something new.

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance,
chaos to order, confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal into a feast,
a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today,
and creates a vision for tomorrow."
- Melody Beattie,
Quoted in "Simple Abundance", by Sarah Ban Breathnach

Thankfulness: A Love Story (Part 1)

thank·ful (adjective):  feeling or expressing gratitude; appreciative.

I love this time of year.  Fall, especially in San Francisco, is typically fantastic.  The air is crisp, but warm; the subtlety of the season shows itself in the golden carpet of fallen leaves on the sidewalks;  and all those delicious root vegetables at the farmer's market...  don't get me started!  It's a time of year when I somehow naturally feel full of gratitude.  Though many share my sentiment, this time also brings stresses for some of the impending holiday shopping to be done, or loneliness.  

If you're in the second camp, here are a few things to consider -

How often do you pause to appreciate what you have in life?  In my own life, as I've seen more of the world, I've come to realize that many of the things I’ve been given are not rights, but privileges.  Like the ability to live in a country that's safe (considering how much of the world is in turmoil) and to gain an education.  Then there's the fact that I have a roof over my head, running water, eat several, balanced meals a day, and that I have all five senses to enjoy that with.  Sometimes it’s easy to feel down because you’re going through a tough time.  But remember, no matter how bad your situation may seem, there are millions of people that have it far worse off than you, and thousands of things to be grateful for.

"When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light, for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food, and the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies with yourself." - Tecumseh, Shawnee Chief

Practicing thankfulness is one of the most powerful ways of thinking to bring about a change in our circumstances.  We often find ourselves struggling with thoughts of fear, worry, anger, frustration, anxiety, helplessness, self-doubt, depression and hopelessness. This kind of thinking has a major affect on our health and vitality, and does absolutely nothing to move us in a positive direction.  In fact, it make matters worse.  Thankfulness, on the other hand, is one of the quickest and most powerful ways to create a change in our circumstances and move us in a positive direction. 

Being thankful gives us access to our highest awareness and allows us  to see the myriad of possibilities, discover what we truly want, and realize a vision for the future.  Thankfulness also brings about a physical and mental transformation. We find ourselves smiling. Our spine straightens. Our muscles relax. Our creative juices begin to flow, and we get ideas on how to turn our situation around and move in a direction that inspires us.

"When I started counting my blessings,
my whole life turned around."
 - Willie Nelson

Nature Deficit Disorder

bi·o·phil·i·a  (n): a love of life and the living world; the affinity of human beings for other life forms.

It's something I've known intuitively, in my soul, but also something that's been expounded upon by great thinkers like Edward O. Wilson, John Muir, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Richard Louv - that human beings have a natural urge to connect with nature.  My parents weren't nature buffs, and without being told, I've come to learn that I do need it.  Nature calms, re-energizes and inspires in a way most things cannot.  

Wilson is known as the father of sociobiology.  He proposed the possibility that the deep affiliations humans have with nature are rooted in our biology. Unlike phobias, which are the aversions and fears that people have of things in the natural world, philias are the attractions and positive feelings that people have toward certain habitats, activities, and objects in their natural surroundings.  Emerson was a 19th century essayist and poet, and a champion of individualism.  He suggested that God does not have to reveal the truth but that the truth could be intuitively experienced directly from nature.  Louv is a journalist and coined the term "Nature Deficit Disorder" with the hypothesis that human beings, especially children, are spending less time outdoors resulting in a wide range of behavioral problems.

In my own life, I've developed an enormous appreciation of nature and my time spent in it - whether it be gardening in my yard, an urban hike through reclaimed land in San Francisco or backpacking in the Sierras - there's something magical, healing and inspiring about nature.  

"Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature's darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but nature's sources never fail."  - John Muir, Our National Parks , 1901

Are you suffering from a nature deficiency?  The good news is that it’s an easy fix, with benefits that have the power to change the course and quality of your life. Here are a few quick tips to get started:

• Eat lunch outside or take a brisk walk a few times a week 
• When possible, take off those headphones and listen to the sounds around you
• Take your eyes off the computer screen and look out the window
• Dig in the dirt - get a plot in a community garden or do it in your own backyard
• Enjoy a weekend getaway in the great outdoors

Whatever you do, and however you do it - Get outside and get reinvigorated!  

It's a Right, Not a Privilege

Privilege (n): An immunity or benefit enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantaged of most.

Right (n): That which is due to anyone by just claim, legal guarantees, or moral principles.

Responsibility (n): Being answerable or accountable for something within one's power, control, or management.

At first glance, it's easy to view these terms as mutually exclusive. From their definitions, we can see that what is a "privilege" cannot be a right since rights are enjoyed by everyone, while a privilege is reserved for a select group. Likewise, it's impossible for an individual to take on the burden of responsibility if they lack to the right to vote in the first place.

Despite this initial judgment, many people view the ability to vote as all three simultaneously and weigh "right" after "privilege" or "responsibility." For example, many believe the ability to vote is a privilege granted to today's eligible voters by those who fought for it in the past either through war, grassroots movements, or legislative battles. These struggles have kept the United States as an independent nation and granted us the right to vote with the passage of the 15^th, 19^th, 24^th, and 26^th amendment, in addition to the legislative victory of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. From this perspective, it is a privilege to live in the United States, standing on the shoulders of these past giants, and we have a responsibility to vote because it honors those who have put their lives on the line to protect it. Excerpted from www.fairvote.org

Respect for every vote and every voice means that while we honor voting and our nation's heroes, we oppose the government having the power to infringe upon our fundamental right to elect our representatives and exercise our voice through our vote. 

There are so many important issues at stake in this election.  Exercise your right to make a difference.  Get out and VOTE TODAY! 

And then check to see whether the candidates and media are upholding our civil liberties in this election at ACLU Liberty Watch.