dailydatewithgod

Today on this national day of gratitude many people will be getting together with family and friends to feast on food and friendship.  Many people will also spend another day going hungry and being alone.  I have spent Thanksgivings surrounded by loved ones, on my own, and even had an “anti-Thanksgiving” (that’s right, I didn’t even have any turkey). The interesting thing is that even times when I was surrounded by loved ones, I was not really connected to them.  I was too busy in my own madness and fear to extend an open heart to those whom surrounded me.  Sometimes it gets worse before it gets better.  Sometimes it is only when we are left all alone inside our hearts and minds that we dare to reach out for something greater.  I am grateful today that I reached that point of aloneness where my heart ached enough to let down the walls.  It was not a pretty process and I had to let go of a lot of ideas about love, family, friends, stories about who I thought I was and “entitled” to.  Only by going down that path did I get to the point of an open heart and mind about what life is really about.  Because of that I am able to enjoy the simplicity of the chance to genuinely connect with other human beings with whom I have great love and have taught me great love.  Today I have the choice to celebrate connecting with them and myself, not exchanging one for the other anymore.  My prayer for us today is that we see the gifts of the people and the experiences given to us by the Creator of love and recognize the choice and the opportunity to connect with and say “Thank you.”  Make it a great one! Peace~Colleen