“The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.” -Eric Hoffer
Welcome to another holiday season. The hectic pace of this season always seems to start the week of Thanksgiving… and that is right about now! As for me, getting together with family and friends over this week always proves to be busy, so much so that I often feel distracted from the point of Thanksgiving. I get so wrapped up in the activities of the week that I forget to appreciate the simple joys of life: a loving family, a wonderful feast, lifelong friends, time to relax, and so much more. That is why I would like to share a story I heard with you. It is not about Pilgrims or turkey, but it gets me back on track around this time of year:
According to legend, a young man while roaming the desert came across a spring of delicious crystal-clear water. The water was so sweet he filled his leather canteen so he could bring some back to a tribal elder who had been his teacher. After a four-day journey he presented the water to the old man who took a deep drink, smiled warmly and thanked his student lavishly for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village with a happy heart.
Later, the teacher let another student taste the water. He spat it out, saying it was awful. It apparently had become stale because of the old leather container. The student challenged his teacher: “Master, the water was foul. Why did you pretend to like it?”
The teacher replied, “You only tasted the water. I tasted the gift. The water was simply the container for an act of living-kindness and nothing could be sweeter.”
On Thursday, use this story to remind yourself that your perspective determines what you see. Take the opportunity to slow down and count your blessings. Take time to taste the gift of appreciation on Thanksgiving and I guarantee you it will be more delicious than the most succulent turkey in the world!
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I am always moved and motivated by your words and inspirations……………thanks for sharing…
Thanks Debbie! We appreciate you saying that.
Whenever I open an e-mail from you it generally brings tears to my eyes, it is all so beautiful. Your “Finding Joy” is my most favorite, I could listen to that every day. I really do need to buy it. Thank you so much.
Thank you Susan! Finding Joy really is a great movie.
A Thanksgiving thought for “everyone!”
God Is
There are those who believe there is no God and they insist,
If that were true in anyway, we wouldn’t even exist.
None of us will ever know how God came to be.
He was, He is, and will still be God at eternity!
Those folks who don’t believe in God, just what do they believe?
How do they reconcile that strange belief, it’s hard to even conceive.
If you have no belief in God your life must be an empty shell,
And God has said if we don’t believe in Him, we’ll surely go to hell!
It’s much harder to deny that God exists than let the truth be known.
Just open up your eyes and look around, God’s love is freely shown,
In every flower, in every tree and in every bird that sings,
There is no way that human hands could ever create those things!
I thank God that He is out there controlling our Universe.
Mankind falls short in so many ways, some things we must reverse.
Too many folks who don’t believe refuse to change their way.
They can’t accept that there is a God and it’s Him we must obey!
God loves us each and everyone and sent His Son to be our guide.
Jesus confirmed that God is love, then for our sins He died,
And when He left that hillside tomb, He went with God again.
We’ll go there too if we believe, nothing to lose, everything to gain!
I’m speaking now to all those folks who deny that God is King.
If they’ll dig deep enough into their hearts they’ll hear the angels sing,
And from that moment on until the very day they die,
They’ll worship God who is alive, a fact they won’t deny!
Copyright 2009
Jacob Nathaniel Shepherd