Thanksgiving Feast

In America, one event changed my life.

“Thanksgiving Day”, the yearly celebration, a day of gratitude set aside by Americans to give thanks to God for all the blessings of living.

This gratitude event, a family indulgence, was something new to me. Though the history behind this fantastic function is not clear, the beauty of the celebration is never lost to a stranger from a distant coast like me.

Bloggers have written articles on “Thanksgiving” including this one by CopyBlogger and  from Oprah.com. What’s in all these articles for one? “What’s gratitude got to do with it?” One may ask.

Many years ago, there was the story of a young man who emigrated from Africa to America in search of a better life for himself and his family back in Africa.

This is a true story.

A young man lived a life of relative wealth compared to the majority of his contemporaries but lacked a deeper meaning of life. Haunted by  restlessness and the Call of Soul, it drove him to look beyond his present comfort zone.

He came from Christianity, one of the two leading religious sects in his country of origin. The other being the Islamic faith. Acustomed to Christmas and Easter for  Christians, and Ramadan for Muslims, he dreamt of a unifying nonsectarian holiday.

What could possibly unify his people, even for a day in gratitude to life?

He has seen political strife, economic stagnation and cultural decline. Malignant hardship was a noticeable scare on families and yet the end of suffering was never in sight. He had no idea  what ails them.

He was soon to find out in America where his first national holiday was Thanksgiving Day.

Can we afford a national holiday to express gratitude for life’s many blessings?  This is a life-transforming event, and like a light bulb it lit up brighter what spiritual teachers have always emphasized to him: “gratitude” is the key to success. Ever since, the new immigrant took it further adapting it as a daily ritual. He  keeps a gratitude journal, a daily ritual that highlights basic things like: “I’m thankful I have eyes”, “I’m thankful I ate today”, “I’m grateful for meeting new friends”, ordinary stuff most people take for granted. The  gratitude list  of what he is grateful for is long.

It made his life richer, healthier and wiser than the case with his peers, condemned to a life of poverty.

I’m that young man in the story.

What about you?

No need to be an American before making this your own daily practice. Show gratitude for the simple things of life.

Do it often.

Do it daily as if your whole life depends on it. Indulge in gratitude, instead of grumbling, blaming, shaming  and criticizing, only then  your life becomes a delightful transformation.

Perhaps, notice the shift in the trajectory of your life.

This first post is my gift to you.  Leave a comment tell us  what you are grateful for, the world is waiting to reward you.

That is what SelfHelpBlogger is all about. Gratitude for what you have now and not necessarily what you will have in the future.

Gratitude as a daily ritual is Thanksgiving in action.