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Published in Waking Up on the Planet Wake-Up Call: Thankfully Yours While my inclination is to talk about Thanksgiving and gratitude this week, I realize that this message is being trumpeted from many sources...so let's just acknowledge that we're all going to be giving thanks for an abundance of blessings. (Make a list; it really does bring the point home!) Instead, this month's Wake-Up Call is about the shopping frenzy that takes place the day after Thanksgiving, and how observing Buy Nothing Day can transform how you experience the holiday season -- and beyond. Rejecting our culture's call to shop on "Black Friday" can bring peace on several fronts. First, you can spend the day in soul-nurturing activity: spending time with your children, reconnecting with nature, creating art- or craftwork with your hands and imagination, helping a neighbor with a home project. Avoiding crowded malls, crushing traffic, long lines, relentless promotion and mind-numbing music in favor of a few restful hours by the fireplace can do wonders for your holiday spirit. Keeping your wallet closed affirms what we already know and yet tend to forget: that the best things in life really are free. And that things are just things -- even holiday things -- as the Whos down in Whoville will tell you. Who knows? You may even be inspired to make more gifts than you buy this season. They can mean so much more to your loved ones. For ideas, visit New American Dream. Then look forward to a truly restorative Thanksgiving weekend -- a priceless gift custom-made just for you. ~~~~~~~~~~ I hope all of you had a rewarding, restorative Thanksgiving holiday with the people who love and sustain you. If your holiday didn't match the Norman Rockwell fantasy you harbored, consider the possibility that no one's does. You need only to listen to others' accounts of underdone turkey, family tension, kids with the flu, missed flights and missed opportunities to realize that Real Life doesn't take holidays off. If you were disappointed, pledge to toss out -- before the next red-letter day -- the picture-perfect vision that exists only in greeting card and stuffing ads. Accept that challenges will arise along with unexpected pleasures. Create a holiday season that brings you contentment with room enough for the occasional flaming hoop or hurdle. Count on Benevolent Planet to provide suggestions for More Meaningful Holidays -- including our Gifts for Greater Good e-Guide -- in the coming weeks. A Stepford holiday never warmed anyone's heart. Life is messy; live it well. |
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