Go From "WHY ME" to "THANK YOU"

by Lia Mack

In our busy lives, sometimes it doesn't dawn on us until later in the day that we didn't take time to acknowledge that we were given the gift of a new day. And, if you're having one bad day after the next, you might not even look at it as a gift. However, each and ever day is just that: a gift.

When we wake in the morning, most of us find it very easy to get distracted from this gift and be instantly overwhelmed, irritated, with all that we have to do. By simply taking the focus off of the you and pointing to others, we can feel the gift emerge from our ever growing 'to do' lists.

This day was given to you to be of service to others.

I find just saying that in the morning (and sometimes, many times throughout the day) helps me to refocus my purpose for living this day, this gift, to the fullest of my being. Especially when my energy reserves have been depleted - and it seems that the kids have just gotten their second, third, fourth, fifth wind - I catch myself before I become irritated and say, out loud, "I get to be of service to my children." This not only gives me the strength to do just that, it also gives me the perfect mental boost to remember that I am here for them, even though I may not feel like doing whatever they want or need me to do for the umpteenth time.

The same holds true for just about every situation in life, whether you are at work, with family or friends, just thinking this thought or saying it out loud, can help you change your focus from a why me to a thank you.

Thank you for this opportunity to be of service to others.


Honestly, it works. Try it today!



"One of the essential characteristics we need to learn [is] to be gentle, and to be gentle means to be serene, to enter meditation or a prayerful state in the morning and evening."
--Larry P. Aitken, CHIPPEWA

The most important talk we can do during any day, is to start the day with prayer and meditation. We need to ask the Creator to be in our lives. We ask Him to direct our thinking. We ask Him for the courage and the power to be gentle. In the morning quiet time, we make our request for guidance using our spiritual tools. We pray for the people and we pray for ourselves. In the evening we thank the Creator for the day, for the lessons and for the opportunity to be of service to others. Then we go to sleep.

Great Spirit, today, show me the power of being gentle.

taken from "A Cherokee Feast of Days" by Joyce Hilfer