This past month I’ve been seeing the word “gratitude” a lot, I mean a LOT! From billboard advertisements to the Occupy movement to several of my friends and Facebook followers posting a daily thing they are grateful for. Initially I thought this was really cool! I like the idea of reclaiming this holiday as a time to share gratitude and thanking the people in our lives for their contributions to our well-being.

But as the month progresses and I see that word “gratitude” again and again, I see that the word is slowly loosing its impact and meaning. I see all the external things, people, places, objects that we are all expressing gratitude for as less and less a reflection of an inward experience, and more and more another way we are mass producing an external awareness of what we “have”.

So take a breath, close your eyes, and be still for a minute. Look for that place inside where you experience gratitude. A gratitude that is not dependent on someone or something but simply wells up from inside your deepest Self. To me this is real gratitude, an experience drawn from the heart that can be accessed regardless of the attitude of others, the events of our lives, or objects we have. If you can access this place, use what you experience to go deeper and deeper into it and discover it has no bounds!

If we all spend some time connecting with this place inside, instead of reflecting on the things in our lives that provide a catalyst for a short lived and superficial version of this deeper well inside, we would all have a lot more to be grateful for. The people in our lives would feel that inward experience and benefit from being connected to us in a whole new way.

So this holiday I plan to spend some time quietly with my Self. Looking for the gratitude in my own heart ad sharing that experience with everyone I encounter not through some external exchange, but by really being with them openly and honestly with great appreciation and love.

Happy Thanksgiving <3