Thanksgiving or Thanksliving

Thanksgiving has always been for me a time to be thankful for all the blessings in my life.

But How Do We Live Thanksgiving?
I found the answer to that question in an article written by Wilferd A. Peterson called, The Art of Thanksgiving. In this article he talks about acts of thanksliving. To quote from this piece, Mr Peterson writes:

“The art of thanksgiving is thanksliving. It is gratitude in action. It is applying Albert Schweitzer’s philosophy: ‘In gratitude for your own good fortune you must render in return some sacrifice of your life for the other life.”

Examples From The Article of Thanksliving
-By living your life triumphantly
-By being grateful for all who have helped you by you doing things for others
-By striving to make others happy
-By helping to be an inspiration to others
-By living each day to the fullest
-By using your talents and obligations to be invested for the common good
-By facing the challenges of life as a challenge for achievement
-By enjoying what you have and sharing it with others

To Summarize
Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for all we have, but thanksliving is a way of life that if implemented could improve the quality of life not only for you and me, but for others. Do you live in a thanks giving way?

There are thousands upon thousands of people worldwide that would gladly give up their life to trade with you for your life, a life full of opportunity that just doesn’t exist in their world. Each one of these people desperately want a new life where they can live in peace, can work, can feed their families, can bring medical care to their children, can see new life where people are respected and valued and simply not seen as a scourge upon the government.

Those of us who are fortunate enough to be born into a country where freedom is guaranteed, where schooling is given and not a dream, where one can move from place to place without fear of being arrested or tortured, or shot dead. We who complain so often are the same ones that have more than can only be imagined by millions of others. We who take for granted what we see and do everyday always wanting more without even the slightest thought that we should have to pay for it or work for it.

The simple things we should be thankful for we ignore, the simple pleasures we take advantage of we just assume will always be there.

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them,
is the true measure of our thanksgiving. W. T. Purkiser

Thanksgiving
By Author Unknown

We are thankful for the care
That did not come to try us;
The burden that we did not bear,
The trouble that passed by us;
The task we did not fail to do,
The hurt we did not cherish;
The friend who did not prove untrue,
The joy that did not perish.

We are thankful for the blinding storm
That did not lose it swelling;
And for the sudden blight of harm
That came not nigh our dwelling.

We are thankful for the dart unsped,
The bitter word unspoken,
The grave unmade, the tear unshed,
The heart-tie still unbroken.

More Thanksgiving Poems

Thanksgiving Notes:
In the US, Thanksgiving always falls on the fourth Thursday of November.In Canada, Thanksgiving always falls on the second Monday of October.While the dates are different in each country, the tradition, the celebration, the giving of thanks is the same.

Inspirational Quotes for Reflection:
“It is literally true, as the thankless say, that they have nothing to be thankful for. He who sits by the fire, thankless for the fire, is just as if he had no fire. Nothing is possessed save in appreciation, of which thankfulness is the indispensable ingredient. But a thankful heart hath a continual feast.” W .J. Cameron

“When you have an attitude of being thankful, you never take anything you have for granted.” Skip Powell

“When one is thankful for the blessings in their life, they are choosing to attract more positivity and abundance.” Michael Austin Jacobs

“There is a difference between what you are feeling and how you are behaving. Change your behavior and your feelings will change.”Stanley Steel

“Each day is sweet, like biting into a fresh ripe strawberry that is so juicy and delicious you canï¿½t believe how wonderful it is and how blessed you are to be the one tasting it.”Evelyn Roberts Brooks

“Giving freely and giving with a good heart, will never go unrewarded.” James Clear

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