A Feast of Gratitude

Posted by Nicki Peasley Share Your Voice

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  There is something sacred about the smell of turkey roasting all day (and I’m a vegetarian).  The day unfolds predictably…my mama in the kitchen, multitasking brilliantly while my sister and I (under the guise of “helping”) vie for her attention; my children upstairs rehearsing for our pre-dinner entertainment (which usually involves my daughters battling for the spotlight and my son sulking that they didn’t let him wear the boa); and the men crowded around the garage TV, drinking (a lot of) beer and yelling expletives at the football players filling the screen (as if they could do a better job).   Like every American family on Thanksgiving Day, we dysfunctionally function in our unique and beautiful way.

When it’s time to feast, we gather around an elegantly set table and my mom poses the question, “What are YOU thankful for?”  Typically, our answers are pretty standard… family, friends, health, employment, bourbon (my kind of wild turkey).  This year, I will challenge myself (and my family) to dig a little deeper…

Gratitude is my most grounding value. It is also a practice that expands my perspective and unites me with my fellow learners here in this classroom called Earth.  The universe has blessed me with a charmed life and I express my gratitude liberally and genuinely. 

Now, it’s easy to feel grateful and give thanks for the good stuff.  Thank you for my wonderful family. Thank you for our health.  Thank you for my warm home.  Thank you for my fulfilling work.  This constant recognition of the good is great practice… and it’s time I expand my thanksgiving to include the not so good.

Every curve ball thrown our way is an opportunity for us to learn and grow.  This is a philosophy I live in my work and in my life. What would happen if I expressed gratitude for my unpleasant circumstances, finding the gifts hidden in my presenting challenges?  Let’s see…

Thank you for the deep vein reflux in my legs… it reminds me to sit down and put my feet up, to find stillness in my active days.

Thank you for the crazy obsessive thoughts that take hold of me sometimes… they motivate me to do the inner work that makes me a better person-- which inspires others to do the same.

Thank you for the panic I experience before speaking in public…it forces me to find my breath, my inner-power, my connection to that which is greater than me.

And thank you for my "development angels" (a term coined by our own Kelly Lewis), the people in my life who drive me crazy and who act as my mirrors for what I need to learn and how I need to grow.

WOW!  How liberating!  It’s all about perspective, refocusing our lens on life, finding the good in ALL of it.  And it takes practice… Thanksgiving seems the perfect time to start.  A feast of gratitude awaits us.  Dig in!

(And THANK YOU for reading...)

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Nicki Peasley I am the CEO of my home, managing a team consisting of a 40 year old, an 11 year old, an 8 year old, and a 6 year old. In my spare time, I am the YOUth development director for Bounce, writing curriculums and working (playing and learning) with elementary and middle school youth.