Thinking on thanking ...

As the year ebbs on thoughts change much like the seasons here in the Northeast USA. Recently, we celebrated Thanksgiving, a national holiday centered on thankfulness. From my thinking on thanking this holiday is celebrated with many different traditions.

There is a growing core for whom celebrating Thanksgiving is seeking out the incredible sales of retailers looking to capture a "lion's" share of expendable dollars spent by consumers in preparation for holiday giving to family and friends. Now don't take me wrong, I'm not a grinch or scrooge - I just believe there is more to giving than spending.

There is also a growing core for whom celebrating Thanksgiving is filled with self indulgences. This includes the sports fanatic who will gorge themselves on Pro, College and High School football while consuming hour after hour throughout the long holiday weekend watching game after game to the exclusion of precious time which could be spent with family. Meanwhile others will engorge themselves with an overbundant table setting of turkey with all the trimmings and/or other favorite choices of nourishment. When filled to overflowing they will seek a comfortable place of repose and pass into peaceful sleep - some more quietly than others.

Then there are those who spend the holiday thinking on thanking - recognizing the many blessings in their lives and thanking God our creator for his touch on our life and the lives of our family and friends. Sometimes, we are facing challenging times and it is tough to find the blessings. We have all faced difficult times like this in our lives but if we are thinking on thanking we will see the hidden blessings in our life.

Count me among those thinking on thanking - even in the most difficult of challenging times!

But enough of my rambling, where are you when it comes to thinking on thanking?

Working through my prejudices with Strawberries, Bananas and Raisins...

No, these are not the ingredients to my latest new recipe. In fact, these are all foods which would currently be on my list of "I don't eat..." Some would call me a finicky eater because I am pretty selective as to what I will and will not eat. And I will be the first one to admit there is truly no rhyme nor reason outside the vast void of my own thoughts. Fact is, as an adolescent I enjoyed eating all three of these foods as often as I could get my hands on them. So just how whacky are my eating habits?

I love tomato based sauces but won't eat tomatoes - unless of course they are in a salsa. I will not touch seafood of any kind - unless it is tuna fish out of a can, mixed with mayonnaise and served as a sandwich. I really don't think I am all that unusual in my eating habits, I know others who are just as quirky or even more quirky than I am when it comes to food.

So why would you care? My belief is that just like so many other areas of our lives our eating habits are created and potentially changed by our life experiences. For instance, I said I will not touch seafood of any kind but it is not because I have tried it and found I didn't like it. In fact, like so many prejudices in our lives I am really not sure why I feel this way. Could it be because my father's favorite protein was red meat? Perhaps my dislike of seafood was influenced by my lifetime practice of catch and release fishing. To me the bottom line is this - the source of our prejudices is not as important as recognizing how we are influenced by them and working hard to get past them.

What prejudices are influencing you and the way in which you are living your life? Do you have a favorite recipe for overcoming these bad influences in our lives which we could all sink our teeth into? Share your thoughts, and together let's see if we can help each other grow through healthier living.

If at first you don't...

If at first you don't succeed, try again. But just suppose for a moment it would not be in your best interest to succeed. I have tried a lot of different things over the years and I'll admit I was not successful at every one of them - which I am sure will come as a shock to my family. (I am, afterall, perfect.) Yet, even in every failure there is the ability to succeed. How? In every failure we experience there is a lesson to be learned. Look for the opportunity for growth as you take on life's challenges. Remember...If at first you don't succeed, try again or when all else fails - look for the opportunity for growth as you take on life's challenges.

But enough of my rambling; are you driven to succeed? What is your reaction to personal failure? Do you have a personal philosophy on life you would like to share which could help us all?