Thoughtful Thanksgiving

Thoughtful Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving bloggers! I hope each and every one of your thanksgivings were wonderful, and that these breaks gave you time to reflect and spend quality time with friends and family. I wanted to start this week’s blog post by reintroducing the idea of thanksgiving and understanding its value and importance.

Thanksgiving can be defined as a holiday for people to be thankful for what they have. Other definitions state that thanksgiving is a prayer that expresses thanks to God. I would define thanksgiving as a time of focus and reflection on what means the most to a person and what they are thankful for and appreciate, but I think the real meaning of thanksgiving goes even deeper than that. Thanksgiving inspires people.

Thanksgiving inspires people to take action. This is where we find thoughtfulness. Thoughtfulness can be defined as consideration for someone else’s needs, it is going out of one’s own convenience to attend to the wants and needs of another. Thoughtfulness is when you take that time of reflection for who and what you are thankful for, and you put those thoughts into action to show those people how much you mean to them.

I am thankful for so many things in my life. I have been blessed with a wonderful family, an amazing support system from previous teachers and member of my church, many wonderful friends from home, and many friends from college who, in such a short amount of time, have become some of the most important people in my life.

With so many people in my life to be thankful for, I cannot stand by without caring for them and showing them just how much I appreciate them. I can do this by demonstrating thoughtfulness in my daily routine in extravagant ways and in the little things. Regardless of how you go about being thoughtful towards those you are thankful for, the appreciation and value you hold for them will be evident.

Before I introduce this week’s poem I’d like to shoutout a friend of mine, Devin Huisenga. She also has a blog and her most recent post explains some of her close friendships and the experiences and relationships she has with the people closest with her. These are the type of relationships that require investment, appreciation, thankfulness, and thoughtfulness.

This weeks poem is entitled “Arbitrary”.

love is fickle

believe these words

one loves another

till they lose their worth

love is blind

but this vision is clear

unreciprocated love

is a lovers biggest fear

love is careful

it is ever questioning

unless a lover wanders

affection will keep from lessening

love is fickle

I could never deny

love is blind

but not from my eyes

love is careful

when taught to restrain

love is something I can never claim

Focus and Fearlessness

Focus and Fearlessness 

This has been a pretty crazy week full of lots of school work and good times with the people closest to me. As the week has ended and we are starting a new one, it is interesting to think about what the next seven days will include. What twist and turns might happen? What conversations will we have? And who will we spend our time with?

I’d like to focus this week’s post on the immediate future and the thoughts that stem from that. It is very easy to get overwhelmed with our day to day tasks or to fall into a normal routine. So, the question is how do we deal with what life consistently throws at us and demands from us and how do we make every day different from the last.

When dealing with the ups and downs and twists and turns in our lives it is important to understand the place that we are at in our life and prepare for what is to come. Life can get pretty crazy with drama, schoolwork, stress, sports, relationships, etc., but by focusing on the positives we can tackle every one of these. I firmly believe that nothing happens in your life that you can’t handle. By having this mindset, no matter what happens or what is thrown at me in my day, I know I will be okay and can move forward knowing that I am able to handle even the most unexpected problems.

The other issue is falling into a boring diagnosed routine and how we can add new experiences to our daily lives. This is a fairly easy problem to fix. The key is getting out of your comfort zone, which can be difficult for many people, but it can create many different situations that lead to newfound friendships, experiences, and memories. By branching out, initiating conversations, asking new friends to hang out, and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone you can avoid falling into a routine and can anticipate new experiences and memories moving forward.

This week’s poem I have included is entitled “Introspect”.  

Worry your soul

with the belief of beginnings

Trouble your heart

with the anticipation of love

Battle your foes

with the concept of adoration

Shelter your mind

with the hope for tomorrow.

Loving, Living, Loneliness

Loving, Living, Loneliness

The atmosphere is changing, the leaves are falling, the temperature is dropping and everyone is spending more time inside. As it gets colder and the seasons change I find myself spending more time in my room relaxing under Christmas lights and drinking a warm beverage. This is the time of year that I find most peaceful, but it can also be the start of a lonely season in someone’s life.

I am going to link a playlist here that you can listen to while reading this post or when you are enjoying some alone time, I have found it very relaxing and cozy for me while spending time by myself and I hope you will enjoy it.

I want to focus some attention in this week’s blog post on getting to know the people who mean the most to you and getting to know yourself. In the time where we transition from fall into the chillier months I find people tend to get lonely or seek comfort in another person.

Last week we discussed the importance of close friendships during every season instead of seeking a relationship as your top priority. This week I want to discuss the importance of being comfortable and at peace with just being by yourself.

The beauty in alone time is getting to think and be free to express yourself. Who do you want to be? What do you want to become? What is most important to you? How do you want people to see you as? These are some of the questions I think we all find ourselves asking when we are alone with our thoughts. It is comforting, knowing that our lives are meant for much more than our own happiness, that they are meant to support and impact the lives of others.

Loneliness doesn’t have to define a season of your life. We often look at being lonely as not having a significant other, having troubles with your best friend, or being far from home. These instances are wrong in the fact that they are making these relationships about ourselves, when in reality our relationships are meant to be about someone else and other people. I think loneliness is something we fall into when we lose focus on what relationships are all about, and when we view being with someone as what that person does for us.

The key to not being lonely is to recognize the need for other people so that you can support and be there for them, not focusing on what someone else can do for you. People will always fall short because no one is perfect. Because of this our goal in relationships and avoiding loneliness should not be based on what we can gain and receive from a relationship with a friend, significant other, etc., but on what we can give and invest into another person.

This week’s poem is entitled “Unmasked”.

Place your heart in my hand,

it will not fall or dent.

Breathe life in each of your breaths,

they will not be shaky.

Rest and allow comfort,

to invade your uncertainty.

Trust the things that escape my lips,

believe their candor and love.

See the person shared with you,

a fruitful lie could never grow tall.

Promise a life you will live in full,

those words cannot be forgotten.

Anonymity couldn’t save my soul,

find peace in who I give to you.