Thanksgiving Prayer

Thanksgiving Prayer by Gregge Tiffen

Dear God:

 I wonder sometimes how you put up with me and all the other people who call upon you only in times of need, but hardly ever in times of celebration.

I am so grateful for your patience and understanding and know that, if I would but try, I could express the same to all that I meet.  I am ever mindful of your infinite wisdom and thankful that it expresses in a quiet tolerance that allows me to experience life in my own way.

I am happy in the understanding that, although you hold all knowledge, I am allowed to search and discover in my own way and at my own pace.  I appreciate you leaving me to my own devices and methods, so that the thrill of discovery is never diminished or impaired and becomes a lasting part of my personal wisdom.

I thank you for the opportunity that I get every day to grow and expand in mind and consciousness; and for allowing me to make my errors and accept my victories, for in them I find my identity and my reason for being.

Thanks too, for the people who have crossed my path.  Some have been warm and loving and some have been hostile, but all have shown me that goodness and mercy comes in all sizes and shapes.

 And most of all, thank you for granting me the experience of self awareness. Without that I would never understand the warmth of the sun or the brilliance of a winter's day, nor could I comprehend the wonder of a child's smile.

I know that I don't come to you often enough, to sit silently in your lap, but when I do, there is always room for me there and your comforting arm is always around me.  I am so thankful that I am your child, and right or wrong, your love for me for never changes.  Thank you for welcoming me back home once again on this Thanksgiving Day.

©G-Systems International ………. http://www.g-systems.com

The Gift of Receiving

“My source is Universal. I do not depend upon anyone or anything to give me my abundance. My requirements are fulfilled when I look to the Universe to provide. I KEEP MY VISION CLEAR. Abundance flows from the Universal cornucopia. It contains ALL that I need and more. It falls to me like a spring rain. It covers me with its good and fills my life with plenty. I look to the Universe for my support.”  Gregge Tiffen [www.g-systems.com]

To our detriment, we have been taught that it is ‘more blessed to give than to receive’.  If you hold this belief, consider how it may be blocking the flow of Universal good into your life.  Consider as well that giving thanks requires that we first open to receiving.

Receiving and giving thanks are integral parts of creating.  While much is written about the benefits of feeling and expressing gratitude, we have yet to fully acknowledge and practice receiving as a key in the equation for creating personal success.  What might be possible when we fully open to receive?  Stepping into our individual power and uniqueness to create a world that works for all.

What habits do we have that block the flow of Universal wisdom, love, beauty, joy, happiness … everything?  Look first to simple actions of declining to receive.  I used to think that independence meant doing it all myself, “No, thank you, I don’t need … I’ll just do it myself.”   Many of us are masters at this one.

Yet, consider that, not only is it exhausting to do it all solo, but also in taking this approach we are damming up Universal flow.  When I reflect on my own erroneous thinking (I don’t deserve, receiving help will make me dependent, etc.) behind being the Lone Ranger (even he had Tonto and Silver!), I see the possibility that receiving from others on this level opens me to receive this Universal bounty more fully.

And, heck, isn’t the inspiration to give a part of Universal flow? In being willing to receive, I create the opportunity for another to give.

Just this week I had the opportunity to choose between ‘DIY’ (do it yourself) or receiving support to dig out from two feet of snow.  I chose both.  Knowing it would take a long while for my neighbor to arrive with the snow plow, I shoveled a path to the garage to retrieve snowshoes so I could take a walk with Luke in the beauty.  I could have shoveled all day and forged a path for the car, but I opened to receive and as night was falling, my neighbor arrived with his plow.

Unconscious habits of thought keep us from stepping up to this Universal cornucopia.  “I can’t.” “I don’t have.” “I wish …”.  As, I bring awareness to my own habits of thinking, I see opportunities to deepen that awareness and use it to shift my thinking, to create a new habit.  Wishing and putting attention on what I don’t have, simply magnifies that lack.  Focusing on what I do have and giving thanks magnifies that.

For my learning to open fully to receive the bounty of Universal source, I bow in gratitude.

Experiment for the Week:  Open to receive the gifts of life more fully. From the door someone opens for you to the gentle (or not so gentle) nudge of the Universe with an idea, receive and give thanks.