What images, concepts and emotions come to light when you hear the words soul, thanks, giving and receiving? What memories do you have of these words you’ve heard since  childhood? Where do you hear them these days and how often do you use them? Is it really more blessed to give than receive and don’t we first receive life before we give it? What’s the meaning of Thanksgiving Day in these United States and do we only give thanks when things go our way? What are you giving thanks for in this moment?

These questions and many others come to mind as the month of November draws to a close and with it, the Autumn season we’ve celebrated over the past months. As this year draws to another end and beginning, where are you in your life trajectory? What have you learned this year that’s stuck with you and changed the way you see the world? What are you giving thanks for and have you accepted the ‘good’ that’s appeared and asked you to receive it within the depths of your soul?

At a personal level, I’m in the midst of a significant life transition that’s  taking me from  the comfort of where I’ve been into an unknown adventure of soul. It’s marking the end of one season and the birth of another. It’s requiring me to let go of previously held opinions, prejudices and conclusions that directed my life and held me captive. In making a different series of decisions based on altered perceptions, I’ve accepted the mystery of the new, let go of the old and become receptive to a host of different options.

Do you have the sense that the ‘good’ is here for you or are you still looking for it? My sense is that the ‘good’ is always here. The problem is we don’t see it. Our conditioning directs us to look outside ourselves rather than within. Our perceptions are clouded by our distorted perspectives which invariably look outside ourselves toward something we’re unable to reach. What if the ‘good’ is always here waiting for us to receive it? What if we could soulfully give ourselves permission to receive it? What then?

In my case, when I finally let go of all the things I didn’t want, to focus on what I did want, the path began to show itself. The challenge was to accept the soul of the gift that would lead to another gift, give myself permission to receive it, smile and give thanks until I was convinced that this step by step process was actually leading me to the ‘good’ that was always here flowing within, around and through me. When I realized I could receive this ‘good’ whenever I awakened to it; I started smiling, receiving and giving thanks in surprising ways. This was when the journey became the destination!

What’s curious here is that the ‘good’ is often associated with the ‘familiar’ which becomes a subtle and pervasive form of human alienation. The familiar enables us to tame, control and forget life’s mystery. In familiarity we’re able to stay away from the unknown that challenges us to grow and change beyond the confines of what we think we know. In familiarity we can’t find our True Self, Soul, because we become lost in a land that no longer invites surprises, new challenges and soulful nourishment.

When we awaken to our inner life, we awaken to the reality that the ‘good’ is here and it’s not always familiar. In fact, it’s somewhat alien in that we’re usually disconnected from it and fearful of it. The seasons of receiving, giving and thanks are not just for what we think we know. Rather, they are for thanks, giving and receiving what we don’t know and in this not knowing, can come to know. It’s the wonder of this alternate reality that brings wisdom to our door; that shows us the luminosity and liberation in Life.

So my friends, as you celebrate Thanksgiving in these waning moments of Autumn, give yourself permission to receive the familiar ‘Good’ you know and the unfamiliar ‘Good‘  you don’t know. Smile, receive, give and appreciate all of it. Allow your journey to be your destination that you might “See the Good” and “Be the Good” in whatever ways it speaks to you with a Soulful Blessing of Thanks, Giving and  Receiving.

• In the time you have this week, reflect on what you’ve learned over the past four seasons of Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn. What season of life speaks to you with the greatest clarity at this moment of your journey.
• As you reflect on the above, use your journal to reflect on the “Good” that’s inviting you into the greater mysteries of Life. What might the ‘unfamiliar’ be calling you to?
• Engage a conversation between your inner Self and your outer self. Notice how they come together and diverge. Where’s the greatest energy for the “Good”? What is this moment asking of you, for you and the highest good?
• If you choose, use this mantra to connect you to the unfamiliar this day, week, month –
  Smile. . .Listen. . .Observe. . .Wonder. . .Smile. . .Listen. . .Observe. . .Wonder. . .
  Smile. . .Listen. . .Observe. . .Wonder. . .Smile. . .Listen. . .Observe. . .Wonder. . .