Well we made it almost to the end of 2020! Today is the first Thursday of the month and with that starts my new series "Thankful Thursdays." This year has been difficult for literally EVERYONE. I do not know any of us saw the challenges, fears and struggles 2020 was going to bring. Most of us have never lived during a true pandemic so it was a new experience for generations of people around the world.
As we move towards Thanksgiving at the end of the month, I want to pause each week and focus on one area to be thankful for. Each Thursday on Instagram and this Blog, I'm going to roll out a new area I want to challenge readers to meditate on and be thankful for that day. This helps us practice positive thinking, gratefulness, and mindfulness. So here we go.....
Week 1: Be Thankful For People.
We are created as relational beings. We are intended to live in fellowship and community with each other. The pandemic has brought this to the forefront even more by letting us get a glimpse of how detrimental isolation is for our well being. We have seen it in our kids who are forced to learn from home, we see it in our religious communities who were told you can't have corporate services, we have seen it in the elderly who can't have visitors even from family. We are not created to be alone or do life alone!
"No man is an island entire of itself;
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main"
John Donne
We all have important roles to play within our family, church, organization, company, city, state, country and global community. We need each other and can not survive alone. So who comes to mind for you when you think about who you appreciate in your life? Maybe it's your spouse, child, co-worker, parent, family member, pastor, teacher, friend, or next door neighbor. Or maybe it's the person who greets you every time at the post office? Maybe it's the barista who remembers your order each visit? Maybe it's the person from down the road who tends to get their trashcan at the same time as you? Relationships come in different forms and often those small, every day type interactions are the ones we have missed the most during this pandemic. Perhaps you can easily name off your family and friends you have missed. But what about the people you find yourself running in life right next to but not always taking the time to get to know them? Let's all try to be more intentional with our relationships and investing in each other.
Week 1 Challenge - List 5 people you appreciate AND list 5 people you want to get to know better. Now look for ways to do this! Tell the people in your life you appreciate them. Send a quick text or drop a card in the mail. Now, look for ways to connect and invest more in the 5 you don't know as well. Spend a few more minutes talking to that mom at school or that waitress who always brings you refills. Be intentional with the people who come in your path each day! Who knows, maybe it will be a light to someone who is struggling.
I Thank My God upon every remembrance of you.
Philippians 1:3
~Tiffany
