Giving Thanks Day 30 ~ Experiences of Life

Today I am thankful, and truly grateful, for all the experiences of life. ~ Marianne Williamson wrote "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won't feel unsure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. As we let our own Light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." Being thankful for this experience, seeing that I have so many things to be thankful for, and so many things I may have overlooked, and even seeing that some painful experiences also helped me to learn and grow has been so rewarding. It's easy to be thankful for the good things. It's easy to think about all the things that bring you joy and happiness, but what about our troubles? How can we turn the stressful, heartache, setbacks in life as a blessing? The sad moments, the ones we don't talk about, the ones that can be overwhelming...these are life experiences that help to shape us and make us who we are. To see so many in pain, with the loss of a loved one, loss of a job, a home...it's hard to give thanks when times are hard. It is sometimes in the most difficult times of our life that we grow. To also be thankful for the "random moments" the "ordinary" moments, the ones that we overlook or never paid as much attention to as we should. My so called not so perfect life, where at first the focus was on the prize, the goal, what will I achieve in life, was transformed into realizing that the little moments along the way the good, and the bad were trials and tests, and allowing me to become. Become what? I am still on the is journey, one where " when we walk to the edge of all the light we have, and we take that step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe that one of two things will happen... there will be something for us to stand on or we will be taught to fly." At the beginning of this year my family participated in a Pay if Forward, Random Act of Kindness experience. It started off a fun, joyful act of giving to others in hopes that they to would pay it forward and a chain reaction would become a wave of kindness that never ended. It ended up being one that gave so much more than we could have imagined over the 40 days of Lent. And here at the end of the year, participating in the 30 days of Giving Thanks has put things even more into perspective. Discovering that there are so many things to be thankful for, that 30 days is not nearly long enough. In writing about what has touched my life or random things I was thankful for, this simple opportunity to give "Thanks" has taught me so much...reflecting on my life's experiences and reigniting a spark from within. I set out at the beginning of the year in hopes our random acts of kindness could "change the world" and in the end reflecting on what I was thankful for all these moments have changed me. Little did I know that this was the frame work that would help me when life's obstacles were thrown my way. These experiences of this past year came full circle, you can't plan for life's moments, you just get to experience them. Reminds me of a quote from Gilda Radner "I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity." I am grateful to those of you that have been shared in my experiences from this year, and even commented, shared your thoughts or memories and allowed me to let my light shine as I posted these past 30 days of being thankful. This ordinary experience was anything but---it was extraordinary. I look forward to unwrapping this gift of my life, giving thanks for all the blessings, and treasuring all experiences and the extra "ordinary" moments that have passed and are yet to come! ♥