My one word for Thanksgiving

My one word for Thanksgiving isn’t gratitude, although I adore everything about expressing appreciation and giving thanks.
My one word for today is self-compassion.
Self-compassion is moving in so closely to yourself and gently embracing all the facets of you, like a mother tenderly embracing her innocent newborn baby.
Self-compassion is accepting all that has transpired in your past, accepting yourself exactly as you are today, accepting the unknown of what’s to come, and even accepting the part of you that finds aspects of yourself or your life situation unacceptable.
Self-compassion is the tender care of your heart and cuddling up to the longings, the disappointments, the heartbreaks, the joys, the whole of you, with a sweet, loving embrace.
So, if you’re not spending this day as you imagined you would, practice self-compassion.
If you’re spending this day like most every other year, surrounded by loved ones, pause in the midst of the hubbub and practice self-compassion.
If you aren’t where you thought you would be in your 2020 business and revenue goals, practice self-compassion.
If you did meet your goals, yet you pushed your body and you’re feeling the stress and strain of overwork, rest and practice self-compassion.
If you just knew 2020 was going to be YOUR YEAR to ratchet up your visibility, income, impact and influence and well… things just didn’t work out as you had planned, give yourself lots of self-compassion.
If 2020 actually turned out better than you imagined, yet your heart breaks for the loss and suffering others are experiencing, give yourself lots of self-compassion.
If you flit in and out of worry and anxiousness for our uncertain future, come back home to this precious present moment and practice self-compassion.
If you feel there is still a long, long way to go with healing and transforming our societal ills–racial injustice, climate change, mass incarceration, human trafficking, corporate and government corruption, to name a few–and it can all feel so overwhelming at times, rest and practice self-compassion.
If your guy didn’t win the election and you’re feeling uneasy, anxious or fearful of what’s to come, turn to self-compassion.
If your guy did win the election and you’re feeling relieved and hopeful again, yet still uneasy, anxious or fearful of what’s to come, turn to self-compassion.
It is through self-compassion first that our hearts break open wide enough, so that we can be fully available to our family, friends, clients, colleagues and community and give our utmost compassion to them.
It is in giving to ourselves first and filling our cups to overflow that we can give that spilling liquid of goodness, gratitude and compassion to others.
Along with expressing gratitude this day, practice expressing the watery wonders of soft, yielding self-compassion and allow the miracle of your life to continually unfold.
Thank you for being in my life. Thank you for being you, exactly as you are.
Happy Thanksgiving from my heart to yours~
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