Teach the Soul

Happiness is not a matter of good fortune or worldly possessions. It’s a mental attitude. It comes from appreciating what we have, instead of being miserable about what we don’t have. It’s so simple — yet so difficult for the human mind to comprehend.
Bill P. and Lisa D.
Authors, Hazelden Publishing

One of my daily rituals is to read the newspaper, and one part of the newspaper I always read is the comics. Sometimes I find real humor in the comics, and there are also times when the humor contains a gem of wisdom.

I remember one episode several years ago. The comic strip was Brewster Rockit, a satirical look at what life might be like aboard a space ship. On this day, Pam, one of the crew members from Earth, was talking to an alien on board the spaceship.

Pam happened to mention that it was Thanksgiving Day on Earth. The alien asked what Thanksgiving Day entailed, so Pam explained that it was one day set aside for us to remember all the things for which we’re grateful.

Pam asked the alien if his people celebrated a similar holiday. The alien responded that at this time of the year, they observed Blamesgiving Day. The alien went on to say that this was a day set aside for the citizens of their planet to blame everyone else for whatever might be wrong with their lives. Then Pam observed, “On Earth, we do that all the other days of the year.”

It’s okay to smile at the truth of that exchange. Far too many people fail to carry the spirit of Thanksgiving Day with them throughout the year. We engage in Blamesgiving far too much; we want to believe that someone else is responsible for any discomfort we experience. It’s much easier to play the blame game than to make changes to our lives and ourselves.

The alien planet had the right idea: set aside one day a year and have a blast blaming others — but the rest of the time, refuse to blame anyone or anything for your circumstances.

If we could all follow the example of these fictional aliens, blaming others only one day a year and being thankful for our blessings the rest of the time, life would be much better. If we stopped blaming others, we’d be forced to take responsibility for our own choices — and both our actions and the quality of our lives would be greatly improved.

I hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving Day and remember to be thankful throughout the year.

Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.
Oprah Winfrey
1954 –