Giving Thanks No Matter Where You Are On Your Journey

Every good thing requires a period of cultivation and preparation before we are ready to reap a bountiful harvest. The time of preparation is often difficult and comes with little gratification. We may want to give up because we can't see that we are making any progress. Take time to count the small blessings to fuel your motivation.

I love the analogy of planting a garden when it comes to illustrating the principles of success. Imagine you want a beautiful flower garden bursting with colorful, fragrant, healthy plants. You're excited as you browse through plant catalogs and start to create a plan of what it will look like. You might even sketch it out. But when you look out your window all you see is a weedy, rocky, barren patch of ground.

The picture you painted in your mind of your glorious garden may temporarily fade as you face the reality but it's still there and it grows and becomes stronger than the reality of what's waiting for you outside. And when your motivation reaches a certain level you grab your shovel and rake and get to work.

It's fun at first, especially the first time the shovel cuts the soil and goes beneath the surface, but after a while your hands begin to blister and your back hurts. Every shovel of dirt looks the same and the newness wears off. Rather than hiding rich, black soil, the weeds and rocks you removed reveal a sandy soil that nothing will grow in. With a sinking feeling you realize that this is going to be a lot more work than you bargained for. It's too late to back out now. You can't just abandon it and it would take as much effort to put it back the way it was than to forge ahead.

So you forge ahead. At this point maybe all you can see is an insurmountable obstacle in front of you and you may begin to resent the fact that you started this project. You may doubt yourself and your abilities and you may start to lose hope. Instead of letting negativity get the best of you, why not focus on the all the progress you've made so far? You may have to search for the achievements, but they are there. After all, you started didn't you? That is achievement in itself.

This time of Thanksgiving is the perfect time to reflect on how far you've come and the progress you've made. Even though you may not be where you want to be, you're certainly much further than when you started. My encouragement for you is that you will take a moment to stop and give Thanks for the progress you've made no matter where you are on your journey!

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