Happy Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving and I feel like it's gotten lost in the over consumerism of Christmas. It seems like we jump right from Halloween, straight into Christmas. We even have a radio station that starts playing Christmas music on November 1. What the heck?

Well not at my house. For the last three days I've been preparing for Thanksgiving dinner. I've been shopping, cleaning, baking, and chopping. Getting ready for the big day. Tomorrow I will wake up early and head off to the indoor soccer field to watch my husband and 17 year old play in the Thanksgiving tournament. It's so much fun!

This is the time of year when we all focus on the things we are so grateful for. Our families, our friends, our homes, our health, our lives. It is a great way to connect with gratitude and I always encourage my children to talk about what they are grateful for even when the answer is something like candy or video games. "cringe :o)"

But I want to take a moment to talk about a simpler form of gratitude that can begin right now, in any moment, on any day of the year. You see, while I was cooking and cleaning I filled the sink with soapy water. Iused a new bottle of soap that I never used before and it ended up making the soapiest sink I've seen in ages.

I reached my hand into the water to begin scrubbing my pie plate and I felt the warmth of the water and the delicious silky feel of the soap on my hands. I even got a whiff of the fresh lemon scent of the water as it rose up to meet my nose.

All I could think of in that moment was gratitude. How lucky was I that I got to experience this moment in time. I know it sounds crazy but it was like one of those "rays of sunshine beaming on me" moments.

It couldn't have happened if I wasn't completely present to the moment. If I had been rushing or thinking about my to do list that beautiful sink of suds would have gone unnoticed.

So take this opportunity to start out your holiday season being present to each and every moment and see if it makes a difference. Start a gratitude journal that goes beyond Thanksgiving. Try to find your own sink of suds to bring you a glimpse of gratitude in the most mundane of activities.

Happy Thanksgiving today and everyday!