“ It shall be done to you according to your faith” Matthew 9:29 NASB
 
  And it shall be done by you according to your faith and belief in yourself. The more that you believe in yourself or anything, the more confidence you shall have and the more ammunition to make good things happen. The more that you believe in yourself, the more confidently you can believe in the future.

  The more that you believe in yourself in any capacity, the more satisfaction and joy that you find in life and from life. I use the phrase ` any capacity’ because there are many capacities in which we exist as individuals and as part of groups, society and life. It does not matter in what capacity though, whether it be as child, student, friend, educator, husband, wife, parent, employee or entrepreneur, the more you believe in yourself the better you function and the better the outcome of your actions.
 
  There is also a dual nature to life and to all things and the mind too. There is a fluctuation to all things, and especially to the mind. The manner in which the mind fluctuates, is usually the direction in which reality unfolds. If the mind fluctuates towards happiness, the feeling of happiness unfolds and if the mind focuses on missed opportunities or sad things, unhappiness unfolds.When the mind fluctuates towards doubt, there is hindrance and when the mind fluctuates towards confidence there is creativity and progress.
 
  There is fantasy and there is reality. There is fiction and there is nonfiction. There is possible and yes there is impossible. The possible belongs to nonfiction and the impossible belongs to fiction, although the impossible can also eventually become possible and nonfiction. Wishes belong to the future and not to the past. History belongs to the past, reality belongs to now and dreams belong to the future but as we all know the future becomes now and now becomes the past.

  Accordingly, you have to learn from your history and not make the same mistakes from the past or allow them to hinder you from operating in the now. The reality that you have now can be changed if you sincerely believe in the future of your dreams and yourself and take action.If you are waiting for a fairy God mother to change the now for you, that is fantasy and it is not going to happen.

  You must have a plan, believe in the plan and take steps now to make it a reality in the future, before the future comes and passes you by. You can watch time pass by, which is easy or you can do something phenomenal and let time watch you do it as it passes by. Rome was not built in a day. Amazon was not built in a day but they were built with imagination and belief as a foundations and dedication to the goal.

  Yes, it takes money to build some things and yes it takes time, but if you have a strong belief that you can do it and that you are meant to do it, then it can be done. Believe in yourself so that others may also believe in you and themselves. Believe in others so that they may also believe in themselves and encourage them to do so. As you encourage others, so they can also encourage you to believe more in yourself.

  Everyone has a chance to be better and to be more than they are. We may not be able to do everything that we want to do in a lifetime or be everything that we want to be or everywhere, because that amounts to the infinite and we are not infinite. We each have so much potential that it may not be possible to ever fulfill such potential. Our true nature and the possibilities are boundless and that is where choice comes in, for you to focus on the dream that is yours and the potential that you know in your mind and heart is the best to fulfill. Believe that you can be better, prioritize your beliefs and align them with reality.
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 The power that you give any belief is the power that such beliefs have and this power will be reflected in your actions. Take no actions to exercise your beliefs and belief simply remains a figment of your imagination. Compliment those beliefs with action and you will see the power of your beliefs flow into reality.
 
  Wake up and believe in yourself and your dreams. Have faith and act accordingly.


​                                                             Jason@MondayMorningPositivity.com

 
“To live without some hope is to be already dead.” J.Umusu
 
   One of the greatest lessons to life is that life goes on, no matter what. Life continues to flow as an unstoppable current. The current changes continuously, but life goes on no matter what. Today becomes yesterday and tomorrow becomes today and today becomes tomorrow again. What today looks like now is not necessarily what today is going to look like as tomorrow. Change is inevitable.
It would be nice if the change was always as we expect it to be and always good, but that is not the nature of our reality.
 
  There is a certain normality that belongs to our reality and that we are all accustomed to. There is a certain normality that we all share and there is our own individual and unique normality that we have shaped by our thoughts and actions or allowed others to shape for us. Even that normality is subject to change. We have witnessed these changes within us and all around us as certain events change the way we do think and do things. Social media which was once nonexistent is now a norm and now the practice of social distancing has become a part of most societies, thanks to the Corona Virus.
 
  There are things that happen to us that make us sometimes question what normality is? Maybe there is no such thing as normal but that which is universal and natural for all humans to do. There are things that happen in the world or to us, that make us question life itself and the future. Ironically life and the future are our common threads and the umbrella of all our normality’s. Yes, life is worth living and we are here to live and accordingly we must travel into the future with hope. Yes, there is a future and it is with a mixture of everything. It is not going to be all good but it is also not going to be all bad. There will be things that you will be able to change and somethings that are beyond your powers of change.
 
  You are here to live and to experience life as it unfolds. You can be excited about the future or you can dread it. I like to think of it as a beautiful future, and if the future is not as beautiful as I imagined it would be when it arrives, I will try and make it better, as best as I can. I must believe in the future anyway as a destination in my life and timeline and I have to travel there and no better companion to travel to the future with than Hope. Like any destination you are going to you also have to make travel plans and that plan is to start creating that better future, while you can.
 
  If you wake up to another day, or tomorrow has changed to today for you, then your energy is still here, you are still here and you are still a part of the story. You have to use your energy to make today a better human experience for yourself and for others. You have to believe that it is going to be a good day and you have to make it a good day. If you wake up to another day, you should have hope as a companion and believe in a brighter future and a better life story. Your primary purpose is to keep on living. It is not just to exist but to live and keep on moving into the future.
 
  To live is to dream. To live is to hope and to live is also to be afraid. The being afraid is natural and like a guideline to remind us that we are all like petals to flowers, that we are fragile and that our existence is fragile and not to be taken for granted. Waking up each morning is like a reminder that we have not been plucked from life yet and to continue being a graceful part of life and the light of day.
 
  The magnificence of life itself never ceases to amaze me and most of the time it is like an honor to be here. I use the phrase most of the time, because like everyone else I have my moments. I have moments when I am down and let clouds into my mind instead of the sunshine. It is like being in paradise but not wanting to be in paradise sometimes, because it is raining but then maybe it rains even in heaven sometimes. Here on earth hope comes to disperse the clouds of doubt and allows us to see the magnificence of life again and again.
 
  Our history as a people has shown us that we have the great capacity as individuals and as a people to survive and to thrive. The story that is life tells us that life is not about a single experience but about the many experiences that we face alone and together. The story is about one of struggle that belongs to all of us as individuals and as a human race and within that story also lies faith hope and love to help us all make life a better story.
 
  Some of our favorite characters and loved ones may no longer be a part of the story, your story or our story, but what do you think they would say to you if they were. I think they would have plenty to say
and I think they might say “Be safe but not afraid. We who belong to the past are still with you and you who belong to the now must live life with joy and hope and be responsible for creating a better and brighter future.”
 
   I like the Abraham Lincoln quote that states " the best way to predict the future is to create it." Predict a brighter future and create it.


  
 
                                                                Jason@MondayMorningPositivity.com

 
    Winston Churchill's quote says " Never Never Never give up" . No doubt it was intended to be inspirational and no doubt he was referring to not giving up on the good things in life and the struggles that we all face, rather than the things that affect and harm personal and spiritual growth. On that note, I present thee with another thought:

            " Neither abandon nor quit what is good, positive and noble within your life cycle and circle."

       Sometimes it feels like you are running around in circles, sometimes it may feel that there is no point to what you are doing or who you are but there usually is. Sometimes it may feel like there is no light in the tunnel but maybe you are looking in the wrong direction and sometimes it may feel like there is no getting out of the tunnel but that is the journey that is life. The tunnel may not only be the journey but also a destination to test and strengthen your spiritual self.

     No one is alone when it comes to wanting to give up on certain tasks, certain people  or even life itself. You cannot and must not quit though, because this is life, because you are a survivor, because there is another beautiful side to the coin of life. You cannot quit because someone or others are depending on you for their sustenance.  You cannot quit because you are a fighter and because you are stronger than you think.

     Strength comes from somewhere to endure the destination and the journey. It comes from, you, it comes from a divine source and it comes from others and I give to you from another some more inspirational thoughts about not quitting
                                               
                                                                Don't Quit - Anonymous  Author
 
            When things go wrong as they sometimes will, when the road you're trudging seems uphill,
            When funds are low and the debts are high, And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
            When care is pressing you down a bit, Rest if you must but don't you quit.
            When Life is queer with its twists and turns, as everyone of us sometimes learns.

             When the pace seems slow don't give up for you may succeed with the very next blow
             and success being failure turned inside out.
 
            When the clouds of doubt loom in your mind, You never can tell how close
            you are to success or victory.  It may be near
 
            When it seems so far, so stick to the fight even when you are hardest hit for it is
            when things seem their worst that you must not quit....
 
            For this is the testament of who you are and the nature of the true champion.


​                                                             Jason.u@MondayMorningPositivity

     Every story has a beginning, a middle and an end. Every journey also has a beginning, a middle and an end. The beginning is always the beginning but sometimes the middle of the story becomes, the end of the story or the journey. The middle of the story becomes the end because, the story is never completed as intended or could have been completed. The middle of the journey becomes the end because, the person making the journey just runs out of steam or  gets stuck and gives up.

  It is like reading a book about joy and pain, sadness and happiness with the sadness and the pain in the middle and the happiness at the end but not getting to finish the book to see the happiness at the end of the story. It is like watching a movie and leaving the theater early because it was not a happy movie from the beginning to end but because you leave early, you do not get to see the happy ending to the movie.

  Many of our stories are like that.  We give up too early or too easily and so we do not get to see the happy ending to our  dreams, our own stories and a lot of our relationships. Back to the point of every story and every journey having a beginning, a middle and an end, know where and when the end is and try your best to get there. Know your middle and your end of the story and do not get stuck in the middle, unless of course you know for certain that there can be no happy ending to a particular story or journey.

  Do not give up easily on yourself  or your dreams. Do not give up on others either if they are a special part of your story or journey. Do not quit being there for others, especially if you know that they need you. Do not quit doing what you know makes you happy. Do not quit encouraging yourself and others to get to the happy ending of the journey and story. Do not quit on faith Hope or true love and do not give up what you know you are passionate about.

  I have been meaning to write on this subject for a while and at the same time indulge my passion for words, but a lesson I have learnt also is that every journey takes time and every story also takes some time to unfold. If you are patient and fortunate, you find encouragement and inspiration to get you to your beautiful end of the story or closer to a more satisfactory ending.

  Before getting to this particular time of my journey and to these words, I found some encouragement and inspiration to write them and to continue my writing journey and my relationship and story with positive thoughts and words. It was a piece Called ` Don't quit' by an Unknown author. It touched my mind and I wanted to touch other minds.

  On that note I say wake up and do not be in a hurry to give up on your journey or your story. Again I say do not give up easily on your dreams and your good relationships.  Do not give up easily until it is time to give up for sure or without a doubt a particular story to your life has come to an end and the credits are rolling as they do in the movies that you get to watch to the very end.


                                                         Jason@MondayMorningPositivity.com

 " Regret belongs to the past. Worries belong to the now and to the future.
        Both affect the beauty of your life and the gift of today." J.Umusu
 
   It is a terrible thing to wake up in the morning to  embrace regret and to have worry to look forward to instead of a wonderful day. You should feel alive and want to go out and explore the day ahead rather dread the day ahead. You should be able to look forward to your routine, because it is worry free and not a mental battle. You should be able to look forward to hearing your phone ring and answer it with some delight rather than with dread because , you know it is a 1-800 number or some corporation chasing you for money.
 
  There are a lot of things to worry about and not just money matters. To each their own worries and if you are a caring person, worries about others, even if they do not worry or care about you. You cannot live well, you cannot journey through life well, if you carry the weight of the world and of others on your shoulders or in your mind. Worry will take its toll on you mentally and physically and so you must find ways to dissolve some of your worries, just as you would find a way to take care of a headache or any other pain. There are ways to relieve some worries, just as there are ways to relieve pain.
 
  Sometimes like a headache, they come and they go, but can be dissolved. Sometimes like a migraine they stay longer and then they go and come back and require further treatment.  The worries that can be dissolved always stay longer than they should if they are not addressed or treatment applied. You have to find your  own unique treatment for your  worries to diminish their hold over you and how they affect your state of being. You also have to be able to help yourself before you can help others and if you cannot do that, you cannot shine a light in the life of others, or take away some of their worries.
 
  Sometimes you have to  joke about the worries and then address them seriously. You have to be able to laugh sometimes even in the midst of your worries or life is all about worries.  You should be able to talk to someone about your worries or you feel all alone and you are not all alone or unique when it comes to worries. You have to be able to lighten the load from time to time or time and time again, because worries come and go to travel with you from a young age to old age. Sometimes you have to look to the universe itself and say ` Hey Universe I need some help here, please.' Be not afraid to ask for help from where help can come.
 
  Worries come and go but do not disappear. Worry simply takes on different disguises as you journey through life. You have to be able to recognize them , acknowledge them and address them accordingly. Worry can grow into a big monster, if you allow it to and affect any given day or your everyday life. It can affect your health, love, your happiness, your state of mind and state of being.
 
   Even positive people have some things to worry about, but the positive mind, a positive attitude and action help tackle the worries. Where there is the will there is usually a way. Find your will power, find your own special ways to tackle worry and each day will be a better day.


                                                                     Jason@MondayMorningPositivity.com

               
"  I claim to be no more than an average man with below average capabilities. I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have if he or she would put forth the same effort and cultivate the same hope and faith."     Mahatma Gandhi
 
  There are minds that do not want to wake up from lack of knowing or from knowing what is but uncertain about what will be. There are minds that wake up and wonder what the day has in store and how to survive the day ahead. There are minds , very creative minds that want to be creative but are distracted by what is and the mind cluttered by worry, pressure and or distress.
 
 There are minds that wake up and wonder what am I doing here? here meaning here on earth and here meaning their particular point of existence in life on every  level. There are minds that wake up and wonder is this how it is meant to be or why is it this way? There are minds that wake up and feel like they are in a cage and cannot get out, but keep on trying anyway.

  Certainty would be nice or rather good certainty, as for to too many minds, the certainty may appear not to be favorable. And so there is a need for some light to every life.,the light that is within us to shine bright or one of candles we do have to burn to make dark places brighter. This is  hope. It is one of the divine gifts for our journey and it serves us only as well as we use it or as bright as we let the flames burn.
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   " There are two ways of spreading light: to be the light or the mirror that reflects it. " Edith Warton

  Be the light in your own life and utilize the power of hope to rise and shine. Be the light in other lives, or reflect some light in the lives of others, even if they do not do the same for you, for everyone needs some light in their lives.

  There is the light that is in the tunnel that we do not all see and look elsewhere for and there is the light that is at the end of the tunnel that we all want to see and sometimes do see. The light in the tunnel that we do not see, are those that have been there for us and always will be, but turn away from the hope for pride or some other reason. The light at the end of the tunnel is the destination we want to get to and beckons us, until we get there or turn away from it also.
 
  There is always hope. There is also  hope, the fantasy and there is being realistically hopeful. Hoping to win the lottery is fantasy. Doing your best and working hard is being real. There is also being negative and there is being positive and each attitude affects the light in your tunnel and at the end of the tunnel.

  Remember this thought and saying also.." For I know what plans I have for you." No one really and truly knows what plans God has for us but you have your instincts to guide you and I do believe that any such plan has to be good. The negative comes from us, from society , bad choices and lack of proper execution.
Wake up and embrace hope today. Wake up and be a beacon of hope for others and remember what you do today will surely affect what comes next and the rest of your story.


                                                                 Jason@MondayMorningPositivity.com

 " A change of feeling is a change of Destiny." Neville Goodard  (1905- 1972)

  There are some things which we should all be afraid of and that is what you can call commonsense fear or  universal fear. There are also an abundance of other things that we as human being are afraid of but should not necessarily be afraid of. These are unique and personal things that we fear. You may not be alone when it comes to what you are afraid of and that puts that fear and you in the realm of being normal. Normal does not however necessarily mean good or for you. It becomes even more normal by acceptance and  you allowing it to become an everyday occurrence.

  Everything has to have an origin. Every story has a beginning, a middle and an end. The big question is why are you afraid of what you are afraid of? How did it begin or when did it begin? That is the origin of your fear.  The question to the middle of your story is: Do you want to continue being afraid for the rest of your life or are you going to do something about it? This is the resolution part of your story. Your story of fear ends as you either remaining a victim of fear or of being victorious. I like stories with victorious endings and I hope that is how your middle of the story leads to its victorious end.

  Back to the beginning of the story, your story, my story, our story.  There are some things that can happen to us along the way that create fear but I think we grow up with most of our fears. Wherever it began or  begins, we give them power and we allow them to take power away from us. Fear prevents you from doing some magical and majestic things. Fear prevents you from being greater than you are or doing something great that could change your life or the life of others. Fear prevents you from living life as you should or as the universe may have intended for you.

  I think that the universe wants you to live fearlessly. In its own majestic way the universe has always protected us from some things that we should be afraid of. The universe has provided us with many tools to either balance out or overcome our fears.  Faith, hope and love are a part of those universal tools, but most of all the power of our own minds. The gift of free will allows you do decide how to apply the gifts of your tools or leave them wrapped up. Unwrap them, use them and fear becomes less powerful and less of a prison.
 
Love Fearlessly:  
 
  Fear prevents you from being loved or giving love. That is the fear of the broken heart or a heart that does not want to be broken but what if that fear is just an illusion preventing you from the happiest ending to your story? What if there is someone out there that needs your love and only your kind of love but because you are afraid, you neither see it nor give the love.  What if there is someone out there that can love you as you need to be loved, but you are afraid of love.To that I say love fearlessly, love unconditionally and your heart cannot be broken.
 
  Being fearless does not mean reckless. Be real also, see truth, know truth ,know true love when you see it, do not deceive and be not deceived.
 
 
Hope fearlessly. 

  Hope is looking forward to something or someone good. That is the gift of hope. It may be a brighter future. It may be new love. It may be new life. It may be an event or it may be as simple as a new TV series. Doubt is the fear that negates hope. Without hope, there is nothing to look forward to, but there is always hope, until the very end of your story and then that is fate. Hope fearlessly for your dreams and desires and act fearlessly to make the ones within your power a reality. The brighter future is within your power. That new TV series might not be. 

Have faith Fearlessly & :Believe fearlessly.

  To believe in God is faith. To believe in the unseen or what cannot yet be seen is faith. To believe that you can do something that has not yet happened or belongs to the future, is faith. The question then is how much faith do you have for the measure of your faith determines how far you will leap with your dreams into reality.

  Believe in yourself fearlessly and you will accomplish your goals. Believe in yourself, even when everyone else is doubting you, and you will still find success.  Believe in yourself fearlessly and any purpose to which you put your mind can be accomplished. If you are afraid even before the mission has been started or afraid of failure, you will not find the success that you desire or deserve.

  Maybe some fear never goes away but we do have to learn to be more fearless most of the time than afraid. We have to learn to have courage rather than be overwhelmed by fear  and doubt, or we will always be less than we are meant to be and never get to where we want to be or are supposed to be. Use the tools that you have been given and you will at the very least have more control over fear than fear has over you. 

  I do not think anyone can be completely fearless, but I do believe that you can overcome fear and become or be more fearless than afraid. Being positive and logical can also play a great role to that end. Wake up and be more fearless. Wake up and face your day fearlessly. Wake up and face your challenges fearlessly.


                                                          Jason@MondayMorningPositivity.com 

 
Misery enjoys company but not the company of happiness. If you want to reside with happiness, you have to bid misery farewell." NosaJ
 
   Relationships are supposed to make you happy or a happier person and if they are not, then there is something wrong with that picture. Life provides enough people and situations to worry about but
there is also something wrong  about having  to worry about everything and everyone all the time.
 
I would be telling a lie, if I was to say all my relationships have been completely happy, but now that I think about it, they have not made me a miserable cow either. They have not made me a miserable person or maybe I have not allowed them compliments of understanding. I understand that life is about gains and losses, about finding and losing certain people or things and finding again.

   All our relationships on a personal and professional level have some turmoil, some stress, some doubt and enough disagreements to them, but at the end of the day or at the end of each of them, you have  come to terms with what is. At the end of each chapter, you have allow your story to make me you better person and embrace a special kind of peace. Either that or the company of misery.

   I would tell you a lie if I said I was free of worry or did not worry about me, life and others. I wake up with worry or a disturbing thought sometimes and then  I have to immediately say goodbye to worry and that morning thought. Instead of the company of worry which would also lead to the company of misery, I replace worry with Hope and faith and keep on moving through the day. I have to,for the others that I do worry about, for my own salvation and to get to a happier place. I cannot get there with worry or misery.

  One thing I do believe in among others is free will. We are not as free individuals as we would like to believe and we are not necessarily free people but we do have free will. We have the choice to be or not to be.The question for you is which choice to make? Others may be able to affect your free will or to manipulate it but the mind cannot be taken from its source and you are the source. 
 
  The serenity prayer comes to mind sometimes. I am not going to try and change anyone for the people that I do know are beautiful as they are even if they do keep the company of misery or are the messengers of misery. The unconditional acceptance principle still applies to them and free will of association with them or misery applies to me. I can change me and I can change some circumstances and I do ask the universe to give me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change. Accordingly instead of misery, I take the gift of serenity and say goodbye to misery.
 
  Even though misery does not enjoy the company of happiness, the very character of misery is that it insists and persists and until misery knows for certain that you are with happiness, misery will continue to flirt with you and seek to have an affair or a relationship with you.
 
  Wake up and Say goodbye to misery . Say goodbye to misery is taking steps towards the heart of happiness. Wake up and enjoy your life for life is the ultimate gift that has been given to you and misery ruins it. 


                                                                       Jason.U@MondayMorningPositivity.com

 
“ All our relationships fail or succeed according to the energy,
              the time and  chances that we give to them.”
                                            
  Life itself is one epic story but not necessarily a happy story for everyone. It is also  however not a completely happy story for anyone. It cannot be a completely happy story  for anyone because it is an epic story and to each story many other characters, many chapters, many twists and turns from the happiness plot.

  It cannot be a completely happy story, not because that is the nature of life and not because that is how it is supposed to be but because that is how we write the story  or allow it to unfold. The plot that is your story, thickens along the way and diverts away from happiness and even from you to focus on other characters  or something else.

 Like it or not unhappiness is a part of the story. Happiness and unhappiness are both a part of all our stories and so there can be no completely happy story for anyone. Hopefully there can also be no completely unhappy story because there are so many chances for happy moments to each story.The many chances for happiness and the many chances for unhappiness, depend on you. You are the main character to your own story, you are the story teller and the level of your happiness or unhappiness depends on you. It depends on the chances that you give each to affect your story. It depends on your actions, your reactions to other characters in your story and your state of mind.
 
 A happy place in our lives  exists because we created it or we create it. The same may be said of unhappiness. An unhappy place exists because something negative happened that created it and it stays our unhappy place because we do not easily let go of that place or events associated with it. Accordingly we give unhappiness more of a chance than happiness because of  the not letting go.
  
 The positive mind finds more reasons to be happy than unhappy because it has the ability to let go of unhappy places and events. The negative mind is more likely to hold on and accordingly finds more reasons than not to be unhappy.  If you can find more reasons to be happy, the happier you can be. It also means that the positive mind has a greater chance of finding happiness than the negative mind. The positive mind gives happiness more of a chance.

 There are some common themes and some commonalities to happiness that we should all find, but we don't, just as there are common themes to all our stories but we are not all the same.. There are somethings that should make anyone or everyone happy, but not necessarily so and maybe that is because we are all unique and what makes one person happy does not necessarily make another happy..
Think of anything that could or should make anyone or everyone happy and you will probably find that it does not. There is no single answer to happiness .Not even love or money by themselves or even together can make everyone happy.

 The answer to your own happiness is you. At the end of the day maybe it does come down to perception and or a state of mind, that leads to a state of being. A state of a positive or a negative mind frame and the chances that you give to one or the other to be the more dominant in your life.

 What if all our lives are extraordinary rather than ordinary but as a matter of perspective we see them as ordinary. What if all our lives are amazing even if not wonderful but as a matter of perspective we see them as mundane. What if it is simply perspective that fails to give happiness a chance?  You have to see the joy to the ordinary in order to give happiness a chance. IF you can also focus on the good rather than the negatives to life, you give happiness a better chance and the opportunity for more good things to follow.

   Wake up and give your happiness a chance to bloom, rather than wither away and die. Create more happy moments and happy places in your mind in order to allow happiness to shine bright in your life.
 
                                                       jason@MondayMorningPositivity.com

 
​    "  The appreciation of what you have and being thankful opens the                                          doors to so much more."  J.Umusu
 
 At the moment it feels more like Christmas than it does Thanksgiving and that is how it is each  and every year now but that should not make it any less of a grand day and a grand occasion.

  As soon as Halloween is over or even before it is over the signs of Christmas start to appear. The Christmas trees start making their appearances, store signs and opening hours start changing and the housing associations start putting out the same old decorations and light from the year before. The Christmas lights start going up and you know Christmas is upon us.

  As for thanksgiving, you would have to look in the freezers at Walmart and other stores for the frozen turkeys and the signs of thanksgiving. Of course you also have Black Friday, which is associated with the thanksgiving period or rather thanksgiving day itself. I liked Black Friday as it was and the early morning excitement rush, especially with the prospect of having to get to work after that. Now it is a rush to gobble down the thanksgiving turkey and then the rush out on Thursday evening to catch what sales you can.

  That should not however detract from the gift of this day and the beauty to thanks giving time.Traditions change as do the nature of things, but the original essence of things tend to remain and the meaning of such traditions we should never forget. The nature, the meaning and the tradition of Thanksgiving, is a way of giving thanks. To most a turkey as part of the tradition and celebration but to each their own way of celebrating and giving thanks.

  This `wake up' blog was intended to be about happiness or a continuation of happiness but now that I think about it, thanksgiving is also about love and happiness. It is giving thanks, it is about the turkey on the table, about feasting and maybe even about shopping, but it is also about love & happiness.  For some it will be about trying to keep a family tradition for the sake of tradition but it is also an opportunity for families to come together, to be together, to create memories and to share the most important gift of all - LOVE. There may be many differences and even some people you might want to scream at or punch but it is an opportunity to be together, an opportunity to laugh, to travel down memory lane and even mend some bridges.
 
  It is an opportunity to give thanks for the gift of love and the happiness that has been yours and is yours. Even if you think there is no love or happiness to give thanks for, it is an opportunity to find something to be thankful for, an opportunity to be nice to others and at the very least wish them a Happy Thanksgiving. It is an opportunity to ask yourself ` what is there to be thankful for?' or ` What am I thankful for?' By doing that, maybe you will find your trail of happiness and align your mind with with happiness.
 
  I am thankful for many things. I could write a book about how thankful I am, for what I am thankful and
about all the people I am thankful for. There are some things that I may be sad about and there are some things that I should not be thankful for, but to this part is the gift of learning and the gift of wisdom.
 
  I am thankful for thanksgiving and the opportunities that it offers me. I am thankful that I woke up this morning to celebrate this day.I am thankful for the opportunity to be with family, for not everyone is so fortunate. I am thankful for friendship and the support of  true friends and family. I am thankful that I am able to see, to hear and reach out to them.  I do not know about you but the list for me, is long and I will keep on adding to the list. Most of all I am thankful  for and I give thanks for love. Love is the greatest cheerleader of Happiness. I give thanks to the Universe and to God and I give thanks to those who have loved me or love me as I am, in this life time. 
 
Have a loving, a Lovely and a Happy Thanksgiving...And when it is over do not forget to keep on giving thanks from time to time. Do not stop being happy. Do not stop being thankful. Do not wait  for Valentine's day or for the next thanksgiving to be thankful for something or someone. Do not wait until then for togetherness or to appreciate the wonderful things and people in your life..