Warmest Gratitude
Give Thanks
GOBBLE GOBBLE, Up the 'Attitude' and convert it to 'Gratitude.' This THANKSGIVING let us genuinely feel grateful for all that we attain. It has been an astonishingly harsh year, and we paid hefty prices by suffering the loss of many loved ones due to the pandemic and significant health-related issues—all of which I sincerely believe is from the negative impact of less human interaction with our loved ones.
This leads me to my point; many times, we chase wonders and materialistic aspects, completely forgetting that all you really need is LOVE and People to survive.
How many times have you heard:
'Laughter is the best medicine."
'Positive thoughts bring positivity.'
'Love is the cure to all ailments.'
Once you genuinely acknowledge and internalize these statements, you actualize how blessed you indeed are. I possess many nice THINGS, and I appreciate them. However, more than anything, I LOVE to LOVE! Sounds ridiculous, yet it's genuine. I'm not sure if I was born this way or because my mother passed when I was a little child. Either way, I give THANKS for every little thing you can imagine and even more.
It all started in 2012. I sensed a change in my perception. I started repeating gratitude affirmations, although I wasn't actually conscious of what I was doing. My mind was talking to itself all day long. I know it sounds silly, but I'm going to tell you straight up what I use to say to myself.
I would wake up and notice my skylight and say to myself, "Thank you God for waking me up and thank you for this magnificent skylight window in my room."
Then I would get up and use my bathroom and say, "Thank you, God, for this bathroom." As I went down my stairs, "Thank you, God, for these stairs." As I opened the drawer to grab a spoon for my cereal, "Thank you, God, for this spoon." And the entire day would continue like this. "Thank you for these Chanel Shades, "Thank you for my car," as I drive, "Thank you for my hands and legs." After my Prayer, when I glance to my right shoulder, I would view a decoration piece in my home, "Thank you, God, for this decoration." Then I look to my left shoulder and repeat the same thanks; all the way till I go to bed, and then I say, "Thank you, God, for the extra day I woke up and lived. Please let me awaken tomorrow."
If you reflect on it, you hold less time for bullshit thoughts, negativity, or even nonsense by thanking all day. Because your brain is focused on all the elements you do possess rather than what you don't.
As I tried to understand myself, I recognized I was developing a different mindset, and there was a lot of oncoming traffic. I demanded time away to strengthen what I was sensing. I steered away from all stress and negativity. Therefore that year was a very intimate Thanksgiving. It was merely my husband, and my three beautiful angels. To bestow my gratitude, I cooked a feast for the FIVE of us and my VERY FIRST GO at baking a TURKEY!! View my pictures below. It turned out STUPENDOUSLY DELISH! We experienced a positively splendid time! Laughter throughout the entire dinner. Oh, what lovely memories we created.
This was my first GO at baking a TURKEY & it came out absolutely JUICY & DELISH! SUBSCRIBE to my site for a 5 MINUTE AMAZING RECIPE ;)
Dessert Table wasn’t any less TEMPTing!
This Thanksgiving, I am requesting you all to mimic my affirmations of gratitude. No matter what happens, what goes wrong, what burns, what is missing; JUST KEEP SAYING THANKS & BE GRATEFUL. I promise you, you will see a world of a difference, and I am sure the food on your plate will taste better too ;p
THANKSGIVING 2015
Something about being THANKFUL ALL THE TIME yields energy you didn’t know you carried. Here’s a TRUE STORY! As my youngest was simply a year-old, and I was still nursing her, I woke up a little delayed this Thanksgiving. However, rather than centering on how late I woke up. I gleefully went down to my kitchen (again thanking all the way down) and merely started marinating and cooking. Dinner was at my Aunts home, and we were requested to be there by 6PM (including a 2-hour drive.)
If you view the photo below with all the food on the kitchen island, I succeeded in baking/cooking 8 of those 13 dishes plus the Pumpkin Swirl Brownies (subscribe now to get an easy recipe for these scrumptious brownies) and even Pumpkin Cupcakes and Pumpkin Pie! All while getting my three Angels and Hubby Dearest dressed up in Navy as a matching entrance. We arrived with a trunk full of Thanksgiving Food and a Family full of Smiles.
For all those people who asked me, “How the heck do you manage to do it all and still look so good?” Guys, I finally found my ANSWER, INNER GRATITUDE!!! I am serious. I won’t lie to you. I additionally asked myself all the time how I was equipped to pull it off. I presume I never looked at myself from a third perspective till recently. All those times, all those accomplishments, big or small, were all because I TRULY felt GRATEFUL for what I had, and I always gave Thanks.
BLESSED THANKSGIVING 2022
After many years of health, relationship, pandemic years of trials and tribulation, I was finally at a place with my mind, body and soul, to cook another amazing Thanksgiving dinner. For the longest time it troubled me how was able to manage 2015 with so many young kids and one year old, but couldn’t manage again. So for me this was a goal achieved which i longed for and feel proud it was not only accomplished, but also very well received by all who gathered around the table. So for this health, energy, capacity, and food I am blessed and grateful.
Plant The Seeds of Kindness
This women reached out and offered to sew my delicate pillow fringes for nothing in return.
&
This friend canceled his scheduled responsibility to come help us move.
I'm not here to boast about my 'KIND' actions. However, I would like to simply share a few to show you that life is truly a blessing all the time.
I financed a funeral expense for a friend who suffered a recent loss (you are the first to hear of this as I did not share this with anyone earlier.)
If a friend or a neighbor is sick, I immediately halt everything I am doing, and I cook 'Hot Soup' or make 'Special Tea Remedy' for them.
Every hour of every day, I express either a 'Thank You,' 'I Miss You,' or an 'I Love You' message to ones near and dear.
I support an Orphanage in Islamabad for a few years now.
I continuously express the unique and positive values I see in people. I inform them and others about them.
I regularly pay for the car behind mine's Taco Bell order in the drive-thru (regardless of cost.)
These are just a few of my values or habits. I honestly believe all the good you do or can do will never go to waste. You placed your kind energy into the world, and the world will always remember it and circle back tenfold kindness to you.
GRATEFUL BLESSED THANKFFUL
So Part I of this blog was to be grateful and to give thanks all the time. Part II, an added way of conveying your gratitude is by giving ‘KINDNESS.’ Kindness can travel further than you ever perceived. Whether to the needy, friends, family, neighbor, or even a stranger, committing acts of kindness will draw you internal joy. What are the various ways you can be KIND this Thanksgiving?
You can provide a Thanksgiving meal to a family who has no means to find food or is scarce on cooking supplies.
You can invite someone who you know will be lonely this Thanksgiving (considering all COVID precautions.)
You can donate funds to a Charity.
You can express a ‘Thank You’ text, message, email, letter to someone you neglected along the way, yet remember the kindness they had previously bestowed you.
You can help others stay warm this winter by donating coats, scarves, socks, and shoes.
You can connect with many organizations that already proposed a plan in place and volunteer to support them.
You can bite your tongue and not respond to a judgment during Thanksgiving dinner that you may have encountered offensive.
You can treasure to listen to someone who is undergoing loneliness these days or recently suffered a loss of a loved one.
You can help someone with a skill you hone and they are in need.
You can use Part I and mix it with Part II; you can say Thanks and share your Smiles and Joy with someone.
I’m sure there are infinite ways to be kind. You can dedicate a gift, sing a song, write a poem, and so on. The critical aspect here is by taking any of these kinds actions listed or something intuitive from your own thoughts, you are essentially ‘Paying it Forward.’ And there is no more incredible feeling than planting the seed of KINDNESS. That, my dear, is the warmest gratitude one can give!
May your table be fully EMBELLISHED
May your bellies be FULL
May your hearts be CONTENT
May you and your loved one’s be SAFE
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Thankfully Yours,
Aneela K.
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