Hashtag Blessed

It seems like #Blessed was cool for a while and then like all cool things, people who like to hate stuff decided it was overused and no longer cool. I’m grateful that I’m finally getting to a point in life where I care, just a little less about what other people think. Don’t misunderstand, I still care, but I’ve finally learned that trying to fit into someone else’s mould of who or what I should be is not a reasonable path … for me or for any of us. Remember the early 70’s hit song Garden Party? “You see, you can’t please everyone, So you got to please yourself” … I don’t want to stray too far over the lines with that but in many ways it’s become more and more true for me in recent years.

All of that to say, I LIKE hashtag blessed.

And I am. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday. I love that it’s such a beautiful, nostalgic time of year. The day itself always feels just a little less stressful than most other holidays. No obligatory gift buying. No snow to travel in. No decorating (although you may love some of those things) Maybe most importantly, Thanksgiving is a weekend when I feel like I have some kind of unwritten permission to slow down, breathe, see the people around me and give some thought to all the things I have to be incredibly grateful for.Apple picking and appreciating all the beauty at Blake’s Apple Orchards near Brussels.

I’ve been told a time or two that I’m an optimistic, positive kind of guy and that makes me laugh a little because it’s certainly not my nature. Some of the people who know me best might agree that I can be a little melancholy and disheartened with the world. “Overthinky” if you will and feeling sorry for myself comes way too easy. Gratitude is an intentional act and one I often have to work at. In many ways, this blog has become a way for me to practice intentional gratitude … to journal thoughts and ideas of things I am and things I wish to be.

A recent study found that gratitude is a vital part of being happy. About 33% of people surveyed, said they regularly make it a point to express gratitude in their everyday lives. But, 65% of people who said they’re “very happy” on a daily basis are also more likely to always try to give thanks. Gratitude is most often thought of as a noun but for me, I think it works best as a verb. #ActaNonVerba #ActionsNotWords #LoveIsAVerb #GratitudeIsAVerb #Blessed

And there are lots of ways to “verb” it up: thanking people in person … writing letters or notes … buying or personally making people a gift or a meal … acts of kindness … or just generally being mindful of all the things you’re grateful for.

The past few days inspired a lot of gratitude for the place I get to call home. Here are a few images from our adventures this week.

“October, here’s to you. Here’s to the heady aroma of the frost-kissed apples,
the winey smell of ripened grapes, the wild-as-the-wind smell of hickory nuts and the nostalgic whiff of that first wood smoke,” ~ Ken Weber
We visited Bruce Botanical Food Gardens, near Ripley. What an amazing place.
“Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love—that makes life and nature harmonize.” ~ George Eliot  (Some reflection time at the Mill in Bluevale)

I hope you have a few minutes today to stop for a minute and consider some things you have to be thankful/grateful for.
Happy Thanksgiving. Stay #Blessed my friend.

Categorised in: Blogs, Mornings

This post was written by Phil Main