Being Thankful is a great game

Giving Thanks

We just celebrated the holiday of Thanksgiving all across the United States and I am sure there were many great things consumed in the process. Turkey and Ham and all of the accouterments that go along with this traditional day of celebration in our country. It made me think back to the creation of this day and where it originated and what I always saw in my minds eye as the Pilgrims and the Indians were sitting down in 1621 to celebrate. There is much that leans back to that time but it seems to have much less with todays holiday than I once to realized. The first "thanksgiving" we often recognize was celebrated by the pilgrims at the end of the first harvest (July) and lasted over 3 days. It was a commonly accepted practice for a community to gather and celebrate thankfulness for the blessings they had received in their lives but was never narrowed to one specific day or another. It might take place at anytime throughout the year as a pause or reflection on that thought which we should remain highly aware of in our lives. As time went on there numerous accounts of "days of thanksgiving" proclaimed by Governors and civic leaders but never on the same day. 

George Washington was the first to acknowledge that we should celebrate such a day in what we now see as our modern day Government of the United States of America in October of 1789 with the following written decree; 

"Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."

Even with such strong political support it was still not formalized to a specific day but rather a spoken recognition that it should exist for all states and people. I think that there were obviously many fears of imposition by Government considering the past revolutionary war and caution to not dictate or reign over the peoples wishes although the forefathers of our country knew the offer of thanks to be the right thing for the people. As years went on it held some constant concern and Washington again proclaimed it in 1795 to the people, John Quincy Adams issued similar proclamations in 1798 and 1799. No Thanksgiving proclamations were issued by Thomas Jefferson but James Madison renewed the tradition in 1814, in response to resolutions of Congress, at the close of the War of 1812. Madison also declared the holiday twice in 1815; however, none of these was celebrated in autumn. In 1816, Governor Plumer of New Hampshire appointed Thursday, November 14 to be observed as a day of Public Thanksgiving and Governor Brooks of Massachusetts appointed Thursday, November 28 to be "observed throughout that State as a day of Thanksgiving". A Thanksgiving Day was annually appointed by the governor of New York from 1817. In some of the Southern States, there was opposition to the observance of such a day on the ground that it was a relic of Puritanic bigotry, but by 1858 proclamations appointing a day of thanksgiving were issued by the governors of 25 states and two territories. Finally in 1863 it was Abraham Lincoln that created the actual proclamation by our Federal Government that we should see the 4th Thursday of every November as a day of Thanks.

But do we?

I can remember my entire life full of these holidays and do not ever remember being taught the truest meaning of "giving" and "thanks" when placed together. Do not get me wrong my family was full of good people who were well meaning. We always said grace over the food prior to engorging ourselves, watching the cowboys only to slip quietly off into our respective food comas. Eventually to wake up and wander back to the table full of plenty make a turkey sandwich and repeat the same process. I can remember for days after wards looking forward to Turkey sandwiches until after two or three days there had been so much turkey that you were happy that the next Thanksgiving was a full year away!

As I grow in life I find myself reflecting more and more on the meaning of so many things and this again was one of them. I love the celebration that takes place with lots of people and friends but I enjoy more the peace of just being and learning what thanks is all about. I was talking with a friend of mine this morning and we discussed the 3 stages of life by Andrew Carnegie. Learn all you can in the first 3rd of your life, Earn all you can in the Second Third of your life and Give all you can with the last Third of your life. Carnegie was great at all three especially from a financial point. I think there should be more emphasis placed upon the wisdom he earned in the first and second portions of his life but it is not our natural tendency to do so. We saw the 480 million he accumulated in 1901 and gave away all but 30 million before his death and that is an easy number to count. I think there is just as much worth, if not more, to the struggles in knowledge he gained in accumulating his fortune. I think to understand how to give of ourselves in our lives is our greatest accomplishment. I told my friend Jim as we discussed the subject that there is a 4th phase in my opinion and that is to find peace with the mark you have left and transfer that responsibility of giving to someone else. 

But How?

In order to successfully complete each phase of life we must first learn to give thanks. In order to learn this lesson, which is tough when we are young and impetuous, we must be thankful for the opportunities we have (all of them). In order to get the most from this phase finding out how to be thankful for each challenge, for each struggle, for our lack of understanding. This is the foundation for a great life! It seems to be easy when we have enough money, knowledge and comforts that we all desire each day but to start the path of life and learn thankfulness in spite of whatever circumstances we have is the greatest knowledge of all. This is the most necessary component that carries over your entire life. It will not matter if you start your life with a great family behind you, with a plethora of perceived opportunity and a great university to launch from or if you start as a lone ranger fighting to find the food for your next meal and not having the luxury of a family to help get you started. In fact it sometimes could even be considered a tougher truth to find when we have too much comfort starting out in life verses when we have to find the comfort by creating it out of an absolute need. I have seen great lives lived by people who grew up in homes filled with love and opportunity and support and I have seen great lives lived by those who grew up with so little in life because they had to start and be responsible for all outcomes because there was no backup plan. The so called "chains of poverty" created names like Lincoln, Walton, Dyer, Ford, Carnegie and that list can go on forever. You can also learn to be thankful and come from a stable family with financial security like Roosevelt, Hill, Gates, Washington and again the list goes on forever as well. 

So what is the difference?

Knowing how to play the game of life. Knowing how to PLAY the game of life! Being thankful for the opportunity to get up and breathe and think and live and give creates the foundation for learning that always yields to great earnings. The more we study this equation the more we find at our core the test of knowing how to be thankful at all times. I have known and seen many people create some really cool things with their lives but the greatest test is when we face adversity of all kinds, How do we choose to respond? Our responses are directly linked to the foundation we learned in the first phase. 

Although this foundation we are building never ceases to grow and that is something I am very thankful for. Even when I may have missed some of the learning I should have in my life to build this foundation life continues to yield opportunity which gives me a choice to make again. Do I find the value and appreciation in this new opportunity or the fear and frustration in the next "chapter" I face. 

I see this game more and more clearly in life and it is about my yielding to life's circumstances knowing that every measure has a great teaching waiting to be learned. I think the greater we understand this absolute appreciation the more we will Learn and Earn in wealth but more especially in Wisdom. The third phase of dispensation or giving it away can easily be attached to sharing of money and finances but the greater gift is the knowledge you have learned in life to be a better you. The more focused we remain on being better at being us the more we will be able to give and I think that this phase is increasingly full of being thankful. This is a point where our lives are becoming so focused on the real meaning of life which is to share with others and give to others that our appreciation for life and all it brings just naturally sores upwards. 

I love reading and learning of history and it repeats so often the same lessons and knowledge of those who have learned before us and it is without question the easiest way to succeed. Copy what has worked before. I love that our nations leaders and founders knew this truth so well to keep it alive as a constant reminder that we should give thanks. They took the time to dedicate day after day, year after year, proclamation after proclamation to tell the people they could to be thankful as it is the key to life. I love that we formalized this process in 1863 but I love even more when we go back to the roots of this history and found out that it was not a specific day but rather a way of life. It was not centered on food or football but simply an appreciation for the life we have and ALL that it brings, Strong harvest, weak harvest or no harvest the key to life is in being thankful for all that it brings. The 3 phases Carnegie spoke of are all maximized by our ability to be thankful. 

Learn all you can and be thankful for the package it comes in no matter how it is wrapped.

Earn all you can in wisdom and wealth and be thankful that these accumulations will be your gifts to others while you are alive.

Give all you can and be thankful for the opportunity to share what you have gained in life.

Each phase is successful if you are thankful. The fourth phase is one I am not in yet, where I personally see our life is coming to terms with why you were here on earth and what you were here to accomplish. It is about us then giving that mantle of responsibility to those behind you in order to leave it a little better than we found it. This phase becomes a celebration for thanks for a life well lived and peacefulness at knowing what we have fulfilled. Know what you are thankful for today and then choosing to be reminded of it daily is the only way to succeed in life and each phase. Enjoy your day, your learning, your earnings and your givings these are the greatest gifts also known as Charity. Never give to get but all receiving certainly starts with giving.

Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts with you this afternoon!

Brian

Quotes to read weekly by Peter Thomas....

The Purpose of my life is to love and share my light, be a leader of the world, enjoy the experience, the journey. Lead, educate and inspire where ever I go.

What would I do today if it were my last day on earth? Go for a bicycle ride! Go for a Harley Ride; Go for a picnic, go for a walk; go for a boat ride?

What would I do today if I received news that it was my last year on earth?

Plan a trip to a place I have not been?

“Today I’m going to love my life and what the new day brings”

The Convergence of circumstances

To Whom Much is Given, Much is required

George Bush said he heard the young kids in Rwanda say “God is Good – All the Time”. His philosophy is, Freedom, Markets work, You can spend your money better than the government

George said to his girls, there is nothing you can do to stop me from loving you, so stop trying

I would like to be half the man my dog thinks I am

Check plans and activities daily to see what else I can do or change that will be more fun, more exciting, create more passion

Lots of people have money, lots of people have time, lots of people have good health, very few have all three if you are one of these blessed people are you living your life up to its full potential?

“Every child saved with my help and the help of all the wonderful secret messengers, who today are no longer living, is the justification of my existence on this earth, and not a title to glory,”

Bersharet – It is meant to be

Satchel Paige –“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?”

The Right Place; The right time – all the time

Rita and I have as our assets (1) Our Love(2)Enough Money(3) Our Health. What are we doing with these assets and what more can we do? Exercise, Movies, Read, Visit nice people, Take educational courses, Dance, Dogs‘

In Business you get what you want by giving others what they want

Getting old is not for sissies – Bette Davis 1908 – 1989

Greatification -- The process of becoming great by following the five foundations and living in alignment with them.

Passion drives Vision; Vision drives Purpose

Remember the average worrier is 92% inefficient – only 8% of what we worry about ever comes true

Disintermediation-cutting out the middle man

I had the blues because I had no shoes, until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet

As hire As Bs hire Cs; good question is “What is the greatest misconception about you?”

Beware of the articulate incompetent,

Walk a hour by yourself,

why the Indian rain dance works, they dance till it rains,

Everything happens for a reason, nothing has any meaning except the meaning you give it, on the other side of tremendous frustrations  is tremendous success

Nothing can add more power to your life than concentrating all your energies on a limited set of targets

Envision, create and believe in your own universe, and the universe will form around you

Delegate at work, at play at home

Do what I do best and drop the rest

Know when to say no

Set limits

Protect my personal time by putting it on calendar

Work with people I like

Set timetables for tasks

Story of Shaq O’Neil worked with his jump shot forget the rest- He was best at the jump shot so they felt he wasted time trying to improve all other shots and only focused on his best shot

Work only with those who are receptive to what you are trying to do

Work only on things that will make a great deal of difference If I succeed

Liquidity event

The most important part of the word 'imagination' is "image." As in, what is your "self-image?"

If you are not “in” over your head, you are not “in” at all

It is up to me

Walking or Skipping the Chance?

I was listening this morning as I took a long walk to a audio book that I want to share some thoughts from but before I do I would like to prelude that discussion with another focused on my “long walk”. I have for years been taught to stay active and busy as this is the best way to “get things done”. The more I experience in life the more I question the sanctity of this thought process. I find little value in my cerebellum regarding walking as exercise so then what purpose does it serve? This has often been my question. A jog, a run, sprints; biking all of these have exercise value I have often realized and therefore I opted for one of these as part of my morning routine. I enjoy the solitude of the items I mention above because it is a great time for me to get more done by listening to great authors and teachers on my iPhone. I have learned some great things while biking around the lake from Wayne Dyer, Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins, Jim Rohn and many of the like.

Opposed to the fact that I have always struggled with running as a form of exercise unless it is in playing a game. The adrenalin of the sole activity of running has never been enough to mask the pain I feel throughout my body when running in the mornings. As my body slowly awakes running often reminds me of each and every joint that has not come fully awake yet and the pain overrides the pleasure I hear many enjoy. Awaking in the morning to play basketball, tennis or ultimate has never been as much of an issue and I think that may be because I really lock in on the competitive aspect more so than when I am running alone.

I love finding the routine, which was interrupted a lot this year by travel, where I can find myself awaking to a new day and starting it in the basics of building me. A large part of this basic routine was then biking and listening to audio as I mentioned earlier but recently I discovered something by accident with the simple changing of the seasons. A few weeks ago I awoke in the morning for a bike ride and just as I took off down the street towards the lake by my house I realized something had changed over night. The air had turned brisk and summer was truly giving way to fall and with the lack of gear I was wearing this made my face and hands bitterly cold. I am sure all of you have experienced the same phenomenon where the cold wind almost feels like small needles being poked at you as it hits the parts uncovered from riding quickly through the wind. At that very moment on this new fall morning I made an executive decision to turn around and go park the bike. The question I had now was what to do? I could go play Basketball but then no audio book time in the morning. I was puzzled and then decided to go for a walk. It would seem like a simple decision but if you were watching me from above I began out the gate and then paused to question the value of this time verses a strong bike ride. I made this stuttered approach toward my street several times before relenting to just move on and start the walk. I was walking down the street about a mile or so while listening to an audio presentation when coincidentally the speaker began to explore knowing how to slow down and enjoy life. Questioning if people truly understood watching the things around them and being a part of the world they live in or asking if we were all just moving to quickly to notice it. He brought up the simplest things liking watching the wind hit the trees, or the grass grow and of course beyond to the point of truly being aware of the people around us. I began to think that this morning was ordained for me to slow down and see some things a little differently when I remembered something I had read in the past.

It was a quote from President Harry S. Truman when he was heard to say “Take a two mile walk every day before breakfast” That’s it, pure and simplistic in nature. I remember even doing a talk one time, not on the literal interpretation of taking a walk but more on the understanding we are never to busy to slow down. The story of Harry Truman was a unique one because I love history and knowing some of his background this quote meant so much more. It was Harry Truman who was elected to the office of President of the United States at a very critical time in history. It should be enough for all of us to see the demands this office has on every individual that enters it. It is a common occurrence that every individual who holds the office of POTUS ends up turning to grey hair at a very expedited rate after securing the position. I have seen this over and over enough to realize that the daily demand and pressure of the office is something I cannot completely understand.

In addition the term that Truman served was during the second world war and the office of POTUS has long since been recognized to be a prominent leader responsible for the allied decisions made during both world wars. It is a secondary burden I cannot imagine of holding the office to begin with but then being expected to go far beyond the boundaries of the United States and make decisions that would have impact on the world at large and all of its citizens. I would think that demand for his attention to daily matters and challenges would be among the greatest of any position imaginable.

There was a third component that I remember reading of which made me ponder that much more. I remember reading of the deteriorated state of the White House during Truman’s presidency and it was in such disrepair it would require a complete restoration. In the second week of his family occupying the home it was my understanding that while listening to their daughter practice piano the Truman family watched the piano slip through the rotten second floor and they were evacuated to live across the street in the Blair house for safety.

Harry Truman took this omen as a responsibility that he should reconstruct the house that represented the history of a nation. He oversaw daily construction while they completely gutted the original fixture. It was at this time that he had the foresight to imagine the entire complex of the west wing and the subterranean structure we now know as the modern day white house. Although it is not of public record it is said that if you could lift the entire white house complex out of the ground you would find that it runs six stories deep under that which we all recognize from street level at Pennsylvania Avenue. There were many photographs of Harry Truman personally managing in a hard hat to determine the construction of a national symbol. There was a need to move heavy operating equipment inside the hollowed out structure to complete the job. Truman was said to have dictated that the “four original walls” would not be disturbed. They literally were said to have dismantled the heavy equipment, bolt by bolt, to be used only after reassembling inside the structure. It was a task of mammoth proportion, which only looks smaller when you add it to the day-to-day operations of being the President of the United States. Oh and that other small task of being the daily commander and Chief of the Allied forces in World War 2 in which he made the decision to drop the atom bomb.

Thinking of all he truly had on his plate and then somehow his quote came back to me on this day while walking. “Take a two mile walk every day before breakfast”. I started realizing it was literal and I needed to make time to be slow in my life. To see the world I am living in and to not allow it to sweep me up inside of each days activities.

I started focusing on walking in silence and walking and listening and then realized this fall will definitely be one to remember in my life. That morning I took a walk several miles long and it was really quiet outside and as I watched and listened there was a really cool peace that came over me. I listened to Chopra talk about learning to find yourself only takes place when you are willing to leave the shallow waters and move into the deepest part of the ocean that is your life. Then dive, dive deep into the darkest part to search for the pearl of your life that cannot be priced because it is too valuable.

I listened this morning and learned that all that exists in the world only exists as a result of me and my choices and my perceptions.  Does the flower smell sweet if you are not there to smell it? Does the flower feel soft if you are not there to touch it? Knowing that all sensations and realities of life take place within me gives me an amazing amount of power if I will only choose to use it wisely. I am listening again and again to learn that this is what taking time for two-mile walks is all about. I have to know to set aside time in my life to not be in a hurry to get the job done but rather be ready to see what my life really is and should be about. Thank you to Truman, Lincoln, Lee, Aristotle, Chopra, Dyer and many other great leaders for working hard to share these thoughts with me. I am really glad it was too cold to ride my bike that morning!

Ps. I still played Tennis that night ;-)