6 Ideas to Help Get Your Thanks On

As always, I'm so thankful for each of you and your big hearts. I know you're all busy right now (so many adoption events to staff and pies to be eaten this weekend!), so this is just a quick note to say: I am grateful for you, each and every day.

Plus, I wanted to share some resources from around the web to support you in reconnecting to soul-sustaining gratitude. When times are tough, gratitude nourishes us: 

1. Not sure what to say at the table tomorrow? Seth Godin's The Thanksgiving Reader offers beautiful passages to be shared with friends and family.

2. Need some help noticing what there is to be thankful for? Here's just the thing: 35 gratitude-prompting questions! Pick one and get writing or talking around the table.  

Right now, I'm mulling over question #34: What have I seen others do that I can feel grateful for? The first thing that comes to mind: I am thankful for the water protectors and the veterans who are organizing to protect them. How about you? What actions are other people doing that light up your heart?
 
3. Want to go a little deeper? This free 10 day email experience, Gratitude-a-Palooza, from Eric Klein of Wisdom Heart might be just thing thing (I'm signed up, so we'll practice together). 

4. If you haven't watched Brother David Steindl-Rast's TED Talk yet, get a cup of something delicious and settle in to hear him explain that if we want to be happy, we start by being grateful. By the end, you'll be ready to Stop, Look, Go. 

5. Are you worried about difficult, maybe even pie-flingingly intense discussions with your family this weekend? You are not alone. Patti Digh has your back. p.s. this is a good one to read no matter what your political views are, because of the explanation between dialogue and debate. A handy distinction for all of us!

6. Still not feeling your gratitude muscle flexing? Here's one thing lots of us are feeling thankful for right now...new music from A Tribe Called Quest!! Boy, do we need these guys right now. If cursing freaks you out, you'll want to skip this one.



The daily work you do helping animals and people is a long game and so is the work that needs to be done in our country. We cannot white-knuckle our way through this. Take care of yourself my friends, so you can sustain your giving.

Let's use Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes poem as our guidepost as we do our best, without causing harm to ourselves in the process.

When the World is On Fire

If fire burns too hot, 
in you, around you,
you be
the cooling water;
for without the radiator
holding even temperature,
the engine cannot go far
toward one's true destination.

Don't forget, tempering is not resignation,
it is lasting, lasting for as long as the journey
takes. Don't burn yourself to the ground.
Make your Heart and Body Consort, Mind and child Spirit, 
your ancient Soul, last and last.
This is not dependent on 'out there.'
Peace as health and strength is an interior job.