The Gift of Thanksgiving

Positive Pensées

Kathy King

The Gift of Thanksgiving

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”.

William Arthur Ward

Thankfulness is a mindset.

A chosen way to be.. when all you see around you is calamity.

The news, the zeitgeist, the leaders and all that folks convey, is sadness, madness, and general dismay.

Thankfulness is a knowing, a spiritual mindedness.

That even when times are ridiculous, you can possess a mindset, a perspective that lends itself to be humble to know to count all the blessings that surround you.  

Even the ones you cannot see. 

So please practice thankfulness and you will see a change in your perspective that will help you in times of catastrophe. 

 

Thanksgiving is upon us. Wow! I cannot believe how fast this year has gone by. I am looking forward to the dressing. I believe folks from up north call it stuffing. In the south we call it dressing. I could take or leave the turkey. I started to ponder thankfulness on this very cold first day of November. Do you ever look through your pictures and think, “That was a wonderful day!” You could think of a variety of emotions, beauty, joy, and even sadness.  How do you cultivate an attitude of daily thankfulness?  To be sure it is no easy task. Some folks come by the practice quite easily.  Some refer to those folks as the cup is half full not half empty people.  I am quite confident even those folks struggle from time to time with an attitude, a longing to find something to be thankful for. I have a friend who is going through quite a difficult time.  Her relationship of many years has dissolved, she has to find a new place to live and to top it off, se has to find a new job as well.  I was prepared to give her a I am so sorry you are going through this, I wish there is something I could do to help this situation.  Before even uttering the words my friend stopped me and said, “I am at peace with what is happening in my life.  Rather than looking at this as an impasse, I choose to view this situation as an opportunity to start over just a little older and wiser.” Wow, I was flabbergasted.  To have such a dire situation and so many changes he maintains an attitude of gratitude.  She did say that she did struggle with a great deal of sadness but she chooses to let the emotion both be her guide and teacher.  What can we glean from my friends point of view?  I would say several ideas and suggestions.  In any given situation, you can choose to take the path of “woe is me” or the path of “what can this teach me?”.  Each road can lead you down a wave of emotions that to be quite honest is quite different.  Let us consider the woe is me path.  When you feel sorry, anxious, or even just have a little party who does it build up or help?  Certainly not yourself… and trust me, I am so guilty of the woe is me path. Much like planting seeds when you plant a seed of woefulness this can most certainly yield a crop of bitterness, resentment, and even anger.  Is it ok to feel those feelings?  Absolutely.  My husband tells our children when they encounter a moment of adversity or even depression he says, “Give it 48 hours, after that don’t stay in that pea soup of bad emotions.  Get up!  Take a walk, try to read something positive to pull yourself out of that egregious place.”  Now, if you proactively choose the path of, “What can I learn from this situation?”.  What would that yield?  Your crop most certainly would be a bit more thankfulness, learnedness, and even a vision to see how you can proceed with your future.  Study after study has shown that your attitude, your way of looking at the varying situations of life directly impacts your health and your outlook.  Even in the most dire of circumstances how can you cultivate an attitude of thankfulness?  By making the purposeful conscious choice to do so.  It may not always be the easy path.  But, in the words of Jesus Christ, “Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad and easy to travel is the path that leads to destruction and eternal loss, and there are many who enter through it.”  Wise words to heed.  Let us be thankful, mindful and grateful. Turn your common day into a Thanksgiving!

Source:  Biblehub.com Matthew 7:13

My books are on Amazon!

The Quacktastic Adventures of Ellie and Lord Barks a Lot

The Case of the Missing Cow Bell

The Case of the Missing Bumbly Wumbly Bee

The Case of the Missing Wellies

The Case of the Missing Honk Honk

Coming soon!

The Case of the Missing Ornaments!

Other books by Katherine:

Clean it up! Wash it Up!

Appalachian Allegory

What is a Mother of a Soldier?

Positive Pensées

Kathy King

I struggled as to whether or not I would share this bit of thoughts. I mean no disrespect to those who have kids who do not serve… at all.  There are days my heart feels like it cannot take it. I do cry. I do pray. I get on my knees and ask God to protect my loves. But… to this comes from my heart sincerely.

To each and every military mom. God has called us to be the strength for our family. We are given much, and much is required. I urge you all particularly at this time in history, to pray, to hold each soldier in your thoughts.  They are going to need it. 

What is it like to be the mother of a soldier you ask?

Try wanting to take their place, even if they do not ask.

Try wanting to run into the frey in their name. 

You would do it in a heartbeat to save their life any day. 

To know that you have your flesh and blood

That could be called to service at a moment’s notice, that concept is very hard. 

There are no words in any language that could describe the size of your heart. 

Also, there are no words to describe the fear that can grip you when you hear the drums of war. 

That is your baby that you held, you loved, and raised. 

Now your baby could be called to the battlefield without delay. 

To be a mother is such a great gift. 

When your child chooses a life of service, that takes a mama with true grit. 

We really cannot tell you just how much we pray. 

How much we hope, how much we want our babies not to be harmed in any way. 

There are those who say, “They took that oath willingly.”

To those we would respond, “Yes, they did.”

They took that oath knowing they were part of something bigger than self. 

They knew that if needed they would give of themselves. 

It doesn’t make it easy for a mama’s heart. 

Our hearts beat, think, and breathe about them each and every day. 

A soldier’s mama is a warrior. 

A soldier’s mama is a friend.

A mama will be there at a moment’s notice, of which our soldiers can depend. 

What is it like to have skin in the game?

It is daunting, terrifying, to name a few words. 

So please, pray for us mamas we need each and every one of those prayers. 

Pray for our babies. 

They defend you and others in freedom’s name.

Never forget those who defend the red, white and blue. 

Their blood, sweat, and tears make your life possible where freedom still blooms. 

There may come a time when freedom depends on our soldiers. 

Please don’t forget them, embrace them. 

Hold them.

Hold them in the light, in prayer in esteem, they chose to defend freedom without any reserve. 

We mamas, we warriors at home. 

We need those prayers like cornerstones. 

We need them for our babies, we have skin in the game. 

So when you take that walk, that drive or that fabulous freedom ride. 

Please, Please remember our babies may one day come in the way of harm. 

We may never see them again because of their oath that they gave to defend. 

So what is it like to be a military mom?

A prayer warrior, a heart that beats hard and wide not just for her own, but those other brave souls who have chosen to walk to freedom’s drums.

The Gift of Don't Give Up!

Sunrises remind me of not giving up...  a new day, a new start.
Photo Credit: My husband

Positive Pensées

Kathy King

The Gift Don’t Give Up

“Don’t be afraid to start over. This time you’re not starting from scratch.  You’re starting from experience.”

Unknown

It’s okay to start over, to make a fresh path.

When you have tried, toiled, and labored and gone through the drudgery.

Wipe the slate clean as best you can, glean the good bits and start the process again.

How many times have great inventors had to erase all of their work?  

Their process was not bearing fruit, they had to restart the process of labor again.

Only this time when they started, they had the gift of understanding within their command.

These great minds took the useful fragments and crafted a masterpiece by never giving up and starting over.  

This is a great lesson for both you and me. 

It’s okay to start over.  

To begin again.

Even if the starting over takes multiple times.  

Each time you are becoming more full of wisdom, and true tenacity, so that you can craft your great life masterpiece.  

Becoming an empty nester has certainly felt like starting over, not giving up, etc.. I never in a million years thought I would write a blog, write 13 children’s books and a novel. I just jotted down some other ideas for stories in the future. There is a thought in our society that once you do certain things such as: raise kids, reach a certain age, finish a certain job, etc.. that there is nothing left to do. What did C.S. Lewis say? “You are never too old to set a new goal or to dream a new dream.” Wise words. Each New Year we hear the term “New Year Resolution.”  The time when we evaluate ourselves and try to determine what needs to change for the better.  Usually those resolutions don’t last but the intent is to try.  What if we never tried to forge a new path or a better path?  Life would certainly be mediocre. Some folks may prefer mediocre, that is completely fine if that is where they want to live. But what is life without starting something new?  Challenging yourself?  Starting something over again with different methods and more experience?  Recently I read about Harland Sanders, the creator of Kentucky Fried Chicken.  This guy had so many jobs throughout his life.  He was a farmhand, a railroad worker, a lawyer, a hotel owner, and dustpan worker for a railroad. That is a few of the jobs listed in his biography.  There were more.  Sanders did not even begin to think about KFC until about age 50.  For a while he enjoyed success with his chicken business.  Fun fact, he sold his KFC franchise when Interstate 75 started to congest traffic a good deal.  After selling, he was left with only his savings and his $105 a month Social Security check, he was 65 years old.  Even then, this tenacious spirit did not give up.  He opted to start over yet again.  He often slept in his car going from restaurant to restaurant marketing his very special spices and his unique way of frying chicken.  All of this hard work paid off.  He finally had many places to dine both domestically in the US and Internationally.  In 1970 at the age of 73 he sold his business for 2 million dollars (roughly 18 million by today’s standards) and lived the rest of his life very comfortably.  When I read about his life I was in awe of his willingness to not give up.  Did he reach low points?  Absolutely.  Did he struggle?  I am quite sure.  But he never threw in the towel.  To give you all dear reader’s a few more examples.  Henry Ford was 45 when he started to design Ford Motor Vehicles.  Vera Wang was 40 when she designed her first dress.  Sam Walton founded Wal-Mart when he was 45.  The late great Julia Child started her path to success at the age of 50.  What is the moral of the story?  You have a gift inside of you.  Find that gift, share that gift even if that blessing is to a select few.  You can and will make the world, or just one person’s life a better dwelling place.  

Source: businessinsider.com

My books are on Amazon!

The Quacktastic Adventures of Ellie and Lord Barks a Lot

Clean it Up! Wash it Up!

Coming soon:

The Case of the Missing Honk Honk

The Case of the Missing Ornaments

Appalachian Allegory