A dear friend of the daily practice of gratitude recently reminded me to journal about all that I am grateful for every morning. Starting the day focused on gratitude shifts how the whole day will go. It is so simple and so amazing! It is also transformational to observe how the list expands and includes things, feelings, people, places and actions, to name just a few, as the days go on.

    During this season of harvest, plenty and our holiday of Thanksgiving, the energy is ripe to connect with this practice. This is the time when we see the symbol of the cornucopia. According to Britannica.com, a cornucopia is “also called HORN OF PLENTY, decorative motif, dating from ancient Greece, that symbolizes abundance. The motif originated as a curved goat's horn filled to overflowing with fruit and grain. It is emblematic of the horn possessed by Zeus's nurse, the Greek nymph, Amalthaea, which could be filled with whatever the owner wished. Amalthaea in Greek (originally Cretan) mythology, is the foster mother of Zeus, king of the gods. She is sometimes represented as the goat that suckled the infant god in a cave in Crete, sometimes as a nymph who fed him the milk of a goat. This goat having broken off one of its horns, Amalthaea filled the horn with flowers and fruits and presented it to Zeus, who, according to one version, placed it, together with the goat, among the stars. In general, the horn was regarded as the symbol of inexhaustible riches and plenty and became the attribute of various divinities and of rivers as fertilizers of the land.”

    Along with this short mythology lesson which also connects us with archetypal energies ever present within us, I would also like to bring to your awareness Sara Breathnach’s book, Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy. In her book she shares six principles for abundant living. She writes: “These are the six threads of abundant living which, when woven together, produce a tapestry of contentment that wraps us in inner peace, well-being, happiness, and a sense of security. First there is gratitude. When we do a mental and spiritual inventory of all that we have, we realize that we are very rich indeed. Gratitude gives way to simplicity – the desire to clear out, pare down, and realize the essentials of what we need to live truly well. Simplicity brings with it order, both internally and externally. A sense of order in our life brings us harmony. Harmony provides us with the inner peace we need to appreciate the beauty that surrounds us each day, and beauty opens us to joy. But just as with any beautiful needlepoint tapestry, it is difficult to see where one stitch ends and another begins. So it is with Simple Abundance.”

    I invite you to take the time in your life to begin a list, which you may work on daily, listing all the things for which you are grateful. Take the time to transform your life!

Gratitude, Gratitude, Gratitude!

Abundant Blessings and Love to You All,