Thanksgiving Thoughts and Emotional Intelligence

Thanksgiving Thoughts ... and Emotional Intelligence

The energy is getting more charged. From the emailbag today, ambivalence about family get-togethers, worries about the economy, budgets stretched, fears and hopes about governmental changes ...

And here comes a New Moon right on Thanksgiving night.

A new beginning.

As we watch the banking and financial world crumbling, we are invited to rethink our beliefs and attitudes toward money ... what it can buy and what it can't. It can buy a house, not a home. It can buy a clock, not time ....

And on the one holiday we haven't managed to commercialize, we gather together to give thanks, to express and feel our gratitude, to be in community with others.

Let Thanksgiving be a time to remember the strength of joining together, and the attitude of gratitude.

So here we have a New Moon, the time to sow the seeds for NEW - new attitude, beliefs, hope, faith brought into alignment, so that there is honesty.

It's a good time to believe what you already almost-know, that life is what you THINK it will be; that your attitudes and beliefs determine the outcome. ("It's not what's happening to me, it's how I'm taking it.") A good time to make some changes, as the world changes around you. It's a good time to re-examine your projections -- - and remember that "we despise most our own faults in others." It's a call to BE the change you want to see in YOUR world, and in THE world.

All you have to do ... is to change ... develop

Hmmm

QUOTES FOR THIS TIME, all from Mohandas Gandhi:

A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.

As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world - that is the myth of the atomic age - as in being able to remake ourselves.

Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.

Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.

Gentleness, self-sacrifice and generosity are the exclusive possession of no one race or religion.

God sometimes does try to the uttermost those whom he wishes to bless.

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

A Poem of Thanksgiving

From my house to yours,

a very blessed and happy Thanksgiving

THE CORN SONG,
from John Greenleaf Whittier

Heap high the farmer's wintry hoard!
Heap high the golden corn!
No richer gift has Autumn poured
From out her lavish horn!

Let other lands, exulting, glean
The apple from the pine,
The orange from its glossy green,
The cluster from the vine;

We better love the hardy gift
Our rugged vales bestow,
To cheer us when the storm shall drift
Our harvest-fields with snow.

Through vales of grass and meads of flowers
Our plows their furrows made,
While on the hills the sun and showers
Of changeful April played.

We dropped the seed o'er hill and plain,
Beneath the sun of May,
And frightened from our sprouting grain
The robber crows away.

All through the long, bright days of June
Its leaves grew green andfair,
And waved in hot midsummer's noon
Its soft and yellow hair.

And now, with Autumn's moonlit eves,
Its harvest-time has come;
We pluck away the frosted leaves,
And bear the treasure home.

Then shame on all the proud and vain
Whose folly laughs to scorn
The blessing of our hardy grain,
Our wealth of golden corn!

Let earth withhold her goodly root,
Let mildew blight the rye,
Give to the worm the orchard's fruit,
The wheat-field to the fly;

But let the good old crop adorn
The hills our fathers trod;
Still let us, for his golden corn,
Send up our thanks to God!

Gratitude ... and Perspective

From the mailbag today.

I AM THANKFUL:

FOR THE WIFE WHO SAYS IT'S HOT DOGS TONIGHT, BECAUSE SHE IS HOME WITH ME, AND NOT OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

FOR THE HUSBAND WHO IS ON THE SOFA BEING A COUCH POTATO, BECAUSE HE IS HOME WITH ME AND NOT OUT AT THE BARS.

FOR THE TEENAGER WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING DISHES BECAUSE IT MEANS SHE IS AT HOME, NOT ON THE STREETS.

FOR THE TAXES I PAY BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM EMPLOYED .

FOR THE MESS TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS.

FOR THE CLOTHES THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT.

FOR MY SHADOW THAT WATCHES ME WORK BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM OUT IN THE SUNSHINE.

FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING, WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING, AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE A HOME .

FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT BECAUSE IT MEANS WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

FOR THE PARKING SPOT I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING AND I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION .

FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM WARM.

FOR THE LADY BEHIND ME IN CHURCH WHO SINGS OFF KEY BECAUSE IT MEANS I CAN HEAR.

FOR THE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR.

FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES AT THE END OF THE DAY BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.

FOR THE ALARM THAT GOES OFF IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM ALIVE.

AND FINALLY, FOR TOO MUCH E-MAIL BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE FRIENDS WHO ARE THINKING OF ME.

Emotional Intelligence ... when there isn't much around you

THE PRESENCE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Well, it's that time of year again. Many people are feeling very low right now. Low energy, low spirits. In the northern hemisphere, gray skies, SAD, seasonal affective disorder, the winter blues, the after-Christmas blues ... and Valentine's Day looming on the horizon. (Incidentally, I've written a lot about Valentine's - it's really more apt to elicit hostility, and it's a very 'emotional' time for everyone.

For the more resilient, it's just a time to hibernate. Introverts do better at this. Read a good book, listen to music, sleep, nap, rest, get massages, go to the spa. It's not the greatest time for "people."

For the extraverts, it's harder. They need people to bring them up, and finding people who are 'up' right now isn't that easy.

So what do you do? As always, goes with it, don't fight it. Then it will flow on through. Be how you are. It will change. That you can count on!

Practice the components of emotional intelligence. One of them is empathy - and that means reading the global temperature as well. If everyone who's called you on the phone has been crabby, guess what? (It isn't you!)

If no one you've encountered has anything more than a plastic smile right now, quit looking outside, and go inside. Do something you enjoy.

If you've been pecking around the office looking for someone to perk you up, and haven't found any, just get busy doing something you enjoy. You are more likely right now to run into negative and depressed people. Surround yourself with things you enjoy. Kids are great too. They are always ready to play.

If you are one of the ones with sunshine to share, by all means do! At last avoid getting into those downwardly spirallyin conversations where we start sharing all the negatives. Think of something positive to say -- and say it!

Be kinder than you need to be.

Remember too, the benefits of gratitude. Like the woman below, there's always something to be grateful for. Find it...and share it.

Call for a coaching pep-talk. That's one of the roles I fill for clients.

MAKING THE EMAIL ROUNDS

Attitude

There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror,and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.

Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today?"

So she did and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.

"H-M-M," she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle today?"

So she did and she had a grand day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head.

"Well," she said, "today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail."

So she did and she had a fun, fun day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head.

"YEA!" she exclaimed, "I don't have to fix my hair today!"

Attitude is everything.

Be kinder than necessary,
for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

Live simply,

Love generously,

Care deeply,

Speak kindly.......

Thanks to Julie for this one ... who is fighting some battles of her own.