THANKSGIVING

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

We walk on starry fields of white
And do not see the daisies;
For blessings common in our sight
We rarely offer praises.
We sigh for some supreme delight
To crown our lives with splendor,
And quite ignore our daily store
Of pleasures sweet and tender.

Our cares are bold and push their way
Upon our thought and feeling.
They hand about us all the day,
Our time from pleasure stealing.
So unobtrusive many a joy
We pass by and forget it,
But worry strives to own our lives,
And conquers if we let it.

There’s not a day in all the year
But holds some hidden pleasure,
And looking back, joys oft appear
To brim the past’s wide measure.
But blessings are like friends, I hold,
Who love and labor near us.
We ought to raise our notes of praise
While living hearts can hear us.

Full many a blessing wears the guise
Of worry or of trouble;
Far-seeing is the soul, and wise,
Who knows the mask is double.
But he who has the faith and strength
To thank his God for sorrow
Has found a joy without alloy
To gladden every morrow.

We ought to make the moments notes
Of happy, glad Thanksgiving;
The hours and days a silent phrase
Of music we are living.
And so the theme should swell and grow
As weeks and months pass o’er us,
And rise sublime at this good time,
A grand Thanksgiving chorus.

Through the pain, through the process. Through the victories and defeats. The moments we have everything and the times we have nothing. There is always so much to be grateful for.

A simple poem. A simple challenge. There are days when gratefulness slips from our mouths like our favorite song. Other days, we can’t find the starting line. If that is you, here is a conversation starter for yourself. A simple spring board that could hopefully open your eyes to what you may be missing. Allow the beginning of thankfulness to spiral into a life of gratitude:

1. What smell or taste are you grateful for?
2. What memory are you grateful for?
3. What in nature are you grateful for?
4. What knowledge/experience are you grateful for?
5. What place are you most grateful for?
6. What abilities are you grateful for?
7. What sight are you grateful for?
8. What challenge are you grateful for?
9. What small thing that you use daily are you grateful for?
10. What friend/family member are you grateful for?

Let’s not wait until the end of our lives to express gratefulness. Take this moment you have now.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!