Don’t Let the Words Throw You

How good it is that people made a tradition — a day for giving thanks. Life too easily becomes getting to the next sunrise, through the next problem, onto the next goal.

Days of thanksgiving are important. We need days to remember what we’ve already received. It’s easier to have faith in a future when we value what’s here — when we gather, thank all who have given to us and give back in whatever ways we can.

The list of people who have changed my life grows daily. I thank every one of you with my head, heart, and fingers on the keys. I hope I live that gratitude visibly.

Gratitude has the power to change the world.

The Art of a Personal Thanksgiving and Thanks Receiving

It’s easy to care for a world that gives. It’s even easier to love the friends who turn the world by helping each other. We’re grateful for so many people and things. We look for every way to say so.

We write a thank you. We offer flowers. We pay it forward. We give because we’ve been given.

But are we receiving?

When someone offers those flowers, that thank you, that gift paid forward, it takes open hands, open minds, and open hearts to accept. Openness completes the transaction with honor. It’s a gift in return.

A personal thanksgiving is answered best with a personal thanks receiving. “I heard you. Thank you, I value your gift.” The art of personal thanks receiving is knowing it’s about the the giver. Receiving gratitude hears people, values them, and builds relationships.

Don’t let the grateful words throw you. Hear the person. Answer with relationship.

We can change the world — just like that!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Image: sxc.hu
Work with Liz!!