It’s nearly Thanksgiving in the out-of-the-ordinary year of 2020. With all the upheaval that COVID-19 has caused around the world (and still surging in the U.S.) and the drama of the recent U.S. presidential election, it is a great time to take a moment to reflect and truly give thanks for what we have.

That being said, Thanksgiving feels very much like a consumer holiday focused on eating turkey, traveling and being with family. During a time when the wise choice is to stay at home and choose social distancing instead of in-person holiday gatherings, I wondered whether the Guides of the Akashic Records had anything to share about gratitude so that we could approach it in the best way possible.

How can we be grateful? What does it even mean?

The Guides answered with the following channeling.

“Today, let’s talk about the feeling of gratitude. It is a word that is thrown about a lot, especially during Thanksgiving time. What gratitude means can be embodied in an image.
You saw a rose. As you looked at it, it unfurled from a bud to a full bloom, with layers upon layers of pink petals. It felt stately and beautiful, taking up space by proclaiming to the world that it is here. That it is beautiful. That it is OF beauty.
This rose is something that just IS. It can be explained rationally for why it brings a positive sense of being to someone -- because it is beautiful, because it helps bees and is part of a larger ecosystem, that it can be food for bugs and worms. What function does a rose have? Do we really need to explain it? Can it just BE?
Can you be thankful for a rose? Yes. Can you be thankful for its thorns? Yes, because it provides it protection. Can you be thankful for its color and progression of bloom, the awe that it brings? Yes, because that is inherently beautiful and pleasing to the eyes and soul.
But can we be thankful for the rose JUST BECAUSE IT IS THERE? Yes. That is actually the goal. To be thankful, to have gratitude, to appreciate, to acknowledge something JUST BECAUSE. There does not need to be a reason. There does not need to be a rationale. There does not need to be an explanation for why something brings you joy, or why you SHOULD be thankful because you have learned something from it despite it being difficult or a challenge, no matter how damaging it is.
The goal is to be thankful, to be grateful for something FOR IT ALONE. Period. Just end the thought there. When you can be grateful for something without an explanation, you are one with God / the Universe because everything has been created just for the creation, the sheer presence of that creation.
How can this be applied to your own life? When you are thankful for the little things, you see the moments of joy. When you are thankful for your difficult relationships, you are thankful because they are of God. When we say God, we ask that you understand this as the Universe, as the Highest part of yourself, of the Divine Intelligence - not as anything distorted by human stories, but of a loving, all-encompassing being that is of us and for us.
When you feel this and understand this, you can simply sit and BE in the light of creation. You are thankful for something that was created BECAUSE IT WAS CREATED. No matter positive or negative.
This leaves you feeling peace and at one with creation itself. It leaves you wanting to create as you are an extension of this energy too. For Thanksgiving, and certainly, for after Thanksgiving, be in this energy of gratitude and go forth and create.
Create because creation is life.”

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JOURNAL: After reading this channeled text, how does this shift how you approach being grateful? Take a moment to sit in the energy of this reading. Meditate and visualize this blooming rose and practice being thankful for it, just because IT IS.

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When I reflect on this reading myself, I can see where I always justify everything and provide a rationale. I want to feel better about being stuck in the apartment for months on end and so I am thankful for my health and my family’s safety. But ultimately, I am thankful for my family because they ARE. I am thankful for my health because it IS. I am thankful for the state of the world despite its seeming chaos because IT IS.

It feels like a subtle shift in energy, but it is a powerful one.

May you and your loved ones have a happy, healthy, and virtual / socially-distanced Thanksgiving. <3