The Story of Thanksgiving
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It was 1620 when 102 people, today called Pilgrims, boarded two ships, the
Mayflower and Speedwell. They set sail from England. After 64 days with no
land in sight, they finally spotted the "New World."
Only one of two ships leaving England reached the New World, so they
immediately had lost many of their people. They had hoped to arrive in time
to plant and harvest a crop, but they arrived too late in the year.
They landed badly off course, and didn't even have the authority to form a
colony where they were.
Their health was in general poor, they didn't have much to eat. Their
shelter was not adequate for protection from the harsh weather. They were
attacked from time to time by the native people, and they were in a new land
that was very foreign to them.
As they came out of winter, more than three-fourths of the children were
dead. Their total number stood at about one-quarter of those who had set
sail from England.
Think about that. Think of some group of about 200 that you have been in.
Visualize some of those people deciding to never start the journey, some of
those families that did are now gone completely. Imagine your own family
having lost one-half to three-fourths of the children.
One year later, after enduring an extremely harsh winter, deadly disease,
not enough food and many other severe hardships, the group of surviving
colonists got together to review where they were, what they had left and
what had been accomplished.
As the leaders reviewed, everything appeared pretty grim. Then someone began
to say, "Yes, all that is all so. We can hang our heads and say 'Oh woe for
us', or we can have the attitude that we made a decision, we are here, let's
look again and let's look for some good things, and let's make the best of
what we have. Let's be thankful, let's be joyful, and let's make this grand
adventure work out."
In other words, they realized that we can focus on the good; we can see the
glass as "half full" instead of seeing it as "half empty" or maybe in their
case, "mostly empty". Initially, there was fear and grumbling. Then
another voice chimed in and said
"Yes, let us give thanks for what we have left.
Another agreed and said "Yes, let's be thankful," and another "Yes, let's
find the good."
They decided to make a list, a NEW list. This time, only those things that
were GOOD could be on the list (they realized the list they had before, they
had been "looking at"/focusing on the BAD). Between all of them, they came
up with over 100 good things.
Wow !! What a surprise!!!!! The FACTS had not changed, only their FOCUS and
the ways they looked at those facts. They decided to take more action in
this new direction, to help make it "stick," if you will.
That decision to focus on what they had that was GOOD - to focus and build
upon what they DID have - marked a turning point for the surviving
colonists.
In time, with hard work, the "grace of God" and help from the native
Americans, their colony flourished and lead the way to creating the
foundations of the democracy and religious freedoms that Americans enjoy
today.
They decided to throw a party, a party for the "Celebration of the
Thankfulness they had Found" and so spread that thankful spirit to everyone,
not just the leaders, in their little Colony. Their first three-day harvest
gathering of "thanks-giving" has grown to become a festive and widely
celebrated national Thanksgiving holiday.
Their annual tradition of Thankfulness, caught hold. It reflected the true
reality of the world. Overall, it's been pretty successful. It started with
only 49 folks in 1621. Today, Thanksgiving is celebrated by millions and
millions, all over AMERICA and the World.
One of the most well liked TV personalities in all of history, and herself a
rags to riches story, and says most of her success began to come about after
starting a "simple habit of written thankfulness," and being consistent - a
habit of writing down three things each day, in a Journal of Thankfulness.
A wonderful family tradition at Thanksgiving is to form a circle and for
everyone (from age 4 to 104) to tell one thing that they are thankful for to
the whole gathering. (NOTE: Most people will name huge/big items, like:
family, love, God, health, etc.)
Then, and when the first round has already been done, this is where the real
power and maybe a few ah-ha's are. Go around a second time and have everyone
tell one "very small" thing, that they are thankful for.
This Thanksgiving Season, may we all take a lesson from those early
Pilgrims, who had lost so very, very much:
Let us find a way to have more THANKFULNESS, in our lives, today, now, right
this moment.
What 1+ thing are YOU thankful for today?
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Sources: Various stories and historical facts about Thanksgiving
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Our suggestion for you today is: Go get a cup of coffee, tea, water or
juice, go to lunch with your success team, kick back and ask yourself to
seriously investigate this question. So, tonight or in the morning when you
are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself these questions:
What are you thankful for this day?
What is going right in your world?
What is one small thing you can do differently that you can use every day to
increase the amount of gratitude and thankfulness you have to build upon,
share and enjoy ?
Is it possible that if you chose to ask these questions EVERY month, you
could also find a way to improve something, so that, in a few years, you too
could say "Wow, that was one of the smartest things I ever did for my
business!" ??
"Dr. MasterMind" John Carpenter Dealey
Visit my website at:
http://www.Dr-MasterMind.com
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| | Author Info:
John Carpenter Dealey was a self made millionaire at the age of 27 and is a best
selling author. One of the books he is proudest of is the "Words That Have
Changed Lives" book series.
John has also published a number of works on Business,
Success, Prayer, Gratitude, Love and Steep Hills (hard times in your
personal life). In addition he is also the founder of MasterMind Soaring and the MasterMind Advisory Councils. The
MasterMind teaching was formed around the principles of one of America's
great founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin. John has spent nearly three proud decades
helping business owners and dynamic executives, ""accomplish their dreams."" |
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