Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I don’t know if you celebrate it or not. I was writing a friend and realized that the United States has one official day to give thanks. It is a day dedicated to giving thanks to others. Hmmm, one day. One day. What if we gave thanks every day? What if we gave thanks and really meant it? I mean the difference between saying thanks to someone as you pass them or on the way out the door or in the middle of a conversation when the server fills up the water glass or brings the food versus stopping, breathing, and sharing the thanks, taking a moment to really give thanks. I think of a giving a present, do you give a present and toss it at the person, hoping they will catch it, or place it on the side hoping they will see it later, or do you hand the present over, making eye contact, waiting to see their reaction before moving on to the next thing?

What if every day were a day to give thanks or appreciation? How could that change the world?

Practice for today (or every day), let’s take a breath today and slow down our appreciations. Really savor it. Give thanks and savor the feeling, the words, the sounds. It may be thanks for something you have done, something someone else has done, maybe characteristics, or achievements, or physical characteristics, maybe the weather, something in nature, something made by people, something you ate, something someone said, something small, something big. The possibilities are endless. Just start somewhere. Let’s change the world one appreciation/ thanks at a time.