This Thanksgiving

There comes a time when you must be still. A time when you must acknowledge that which tried to set you back whether it was people, things, events, big or small. You have been challenged in many ways this year and you have been triumphant! Why? Because it has always been you...doing the work, you...making the decisions and living with them, you...thinking it through, you...doing what was required. It is you...that made this year, in your life, possible. It has always been you.

Like many others, I am thankful for everyone in my life, family, friends and you, for the food, for my health and all of the rest known and unknown. And this Thanksgiving, I am not only looking outward for what the world has given me, but I am looking inward and giving thanks to me for what I have given me. Yes, without shame and... unapologetically.

Looking back at the previous Posts, you may recognize that I've taken us all on a journey, a journey into the I AM. We began with the "Me Collage" (sent to subscribers only), my bad, but then I created and shared various posts with all of you, specifically Realizing That You are Meant to Be Here, then Embracing Your Special Kind of Beautiful, to Winter is Coming which asked you, amongst other things, to reflect on what you've accomplished this year. This is all designed for you to gift yourself with a greater appreciation for who you've become, how you've grown, how you've evolved this year alone...in secret.

Each Post offers the opportunity to journey inward, and please know that I have been on the journey with you, as there is never a time when I'm talking to you and not to me.

Yes, I am a professional, certified life and grief coach, degreed and all, but know that as I journey with you, I am also growing, I'm evolving, I'm building, I'm creating with you. So yes, from beginning to end I am here with you encouraging you to realize your accomplishments and take pride in them. This year be thankful for all that you've gone through, for all the little things that made big differences. Yes? Yes. Allow me to give you a bit of inspiration:

This Thanksgiving, I am giving thanks that I have been able to own all of the many Me's that make my world possible. I am thanking me for the many times that I over-road the negative, for the many times that I rose above the limitations of my mind...victoriously.

This Thanksgiving, I am giving thanks to me because I've had the courage, the drive, the motivation, the intestinal fortitude and wherewithal to do whatever I "felt" called to do. I've followed my dreams, I kept dreaming, I never gave up, I believed... I "knew" I could.

This Thanksgiving, I am giving thanks to me for acknowledging my ancestors, keeping them at the forefront of my mind. Remembering that they have paved the way for me to be here in life's unfolding. They have been the wind beneath my wings, the drivers of my soul, a source of great pride. I am thankful to me that I get that shit, I own it...for real.

This Thanksgiving, I am grateful that it is not yet my turn to leave this life, that I am living in my choices and that I am choosing well, choosing to continuously make a difference in the life of somebody, somewhere, somehow. I am in my Beingness.

This Thanksgiving I am thankful to me...for having the ability to hold on to the loving relationships that remind me that I am loved and will be missed when the time comes. I am also thankful to Valerie for being able to lovingly let go of relationships (family and friends) that were too heavy to carry or to lift up.

This Thanksgiving I am giving thanks to me for creating room for my growth and my goodness. I am in my Beingness.

This Thanksgiving do you. Make time to go inward, not analyzing or criticizing, no, you do enough of that shit throughout the year. This Thanksgiving, go inward quietly. Give thanks to you for being you. You know that if it wasn't you...but your best friend...you could easily and with the quickness tell them the things they should be grateful to themselves for. It's easy to be external, to see outwardly. But what I am asking is that you...be your own best friend and that this Thanksgiving you give thanks to you for being you. Unapologetically be the I AM THAT I AM.

It is time. This Thanksgiving.

DISCLAIMER

I am a life and grief coach. I am NOT a professional counselor, a therapist nor a mental health practitioner. I do not imply, infer, or attempt to fix, heal, or cure grief. Some conditions may require consultation and referral from/to a licensed physician or mental health professional. If you are experiencing serious suicidal thoughts that you cannot control, please call 911 or 988 for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline.