Thanksgiving: What if I'm not Feeling Thankful?

Thanksgiving.  A time when we hear a lot about Gratitude, Thankfulness, appreciating what we have.  While I have been taking the time lately to intentionally create joy and recognize what is great in my life by keeping up with a gratitude journal, I also want to be sure that I am sensitive to the fact that for everyone this is not always easy.  

The Holiday Season can be a time that is filled with Positivity, Joy, Excitement, Love, Romance, Beauty. It can also be time when we experience some very difficult emotions: Sadness, Grief, Angst, Anxiety, Loneliness.  I am thankful this year that I am experiencing many positive emotions entering into this season, but there have been some years where the Holiday has been the opposite, a time when I have experienced great sadness, loss, loneliness, anger, grief, anxiety. And you know what? Those years really sucked, but have also allowed me to appreciate the seasons of happiness, the times when it feels easy to access positivity.  

So, if you're having a hard time feeling grateful or thankful this year, know that it's okay. Allow that to set in and allow yourself to experience that. Also, remember that this won't last forever. Everything is temporary. At the same time, can you accept the challenge to dig into your life, and to see that there is indeed some good that lives within the not so good? Can you see the good that is within you? The love and light that is deep within your heart? Can you find appreciation for yourself, for who you are, where you are and what you have to offer? For allowing yourself to feel and experience the downright unpleasant stuff?  

In closing, I'd like to share with you a Quote I enjoy from Clark Moustakas, an American Psychologist who specialized in humanistic and clinical psychology: "Accept everything about yourself - I mean everything. You are you, and that is the beginning and the end - no apologies, no regrets."

My wish for you this Holiday Season?  May you accept yourself just as you are.  May you be happy.  May you be healthy.  May you be safe.  May you know the natural joy of being alive.

Peace & Love,

Melissa