Happy Day of Gratitude

In America, there are many stories about the origin of the Thanksgiving tradition. Some stories recount tales of peaceful cooperation between early settlers and indigenous people. Others describe celebrations by colonizers in the aftermath of horrific battles. The modern practice, however started In 1863, amidst a raging civil war, when President Abraham Lincoln issued a “Proclamation of Thanksgiving,” initiating the national holiday on the last Thursday in November. Lincoln’s proclamation urged the nation to heal its wounds and restore “peace, harmony, tranquility and union.

We like to think of it as a day to celebrate all we’re grateful for, while also acknowledging our own and our country’s shadow side. When we can hold both the good and the bad in our consciousness, we can live in a balanced way. The law of polarity and the yin/yang theory demonstrate the necessity of both sides of the continuum. Without bad, we have no way to distinguish what’s good. There is no left, without right, or up without down. With everything in our lives, may we acknowledge our errors, make amends to those we’ve harmed, forgive ourselves and others and above all, be grateful for all we have.

Happy Gratitude Day

Today is our 12th year anniversary writing Gratitude24-7. We write these posts for ourselves as a daily practice and offer them to you because we know how powerful they can be. Thank you for sharing this experience with us.

In love and gratitude,

Jarl and Steve