This time every year we pause and give thanks to God for all of our blessings. That is the plan anyway. In reality, these days we are already in full swing preparing for “the holidays” and Thanksgiving just gets rolled into the “to do” list and has virtually lost its meaning. I’m not judging here as I find myself doing it too.

This year, however, I am thinking about it a lot. So much has changed in my life and I find myself looking at things entirely differently than I did even a year ago. Starting my own business has been a huge change for me. It’s certainly been a challenge and I’ve learned so much along the journey only to realize that I have so much more to learn.

Not everything has turned out exactly as I have planned. It’s been difficult to explain what I do, so haven’t gotten as many clients as I had hoped I would by now.  I am especially appreciative of the people who have taken the leap of faith and have worked with me to find their best selves. Every session with a client reinforces to me that I am on the right path and gives me a better sense of how to share the experience with others.

Even more importantly, this year has taught me that I need to rely on God more. It has changed our relationship drastically and for that, I will be eternally (literally) grateful. I posted a Poem of Thanksgiving on my Facebook page earlier and without sharing it all here, I will just say that it expresses the sentiment of being thankful for the challenges and obstacles in life because they give us room to learn and grow. I will, however, repeat the last line:

“Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive. Find a way to be thankful for your troubles, and they can become your blessings.”

I believe that to be true and am excited about what this next year will bring. In the meantime, I plan to take a few days to unplug and enjoy time with family and truly give heartfelt thanks for all the blessings we have.   I hope you will do the same.

Have a truly blessed Thanksgiving and know that if you have read this message this far into it, that I am counting you as one of the blessings in my life.