Giving Thanks

It has been so long, not because I haven't thought of all I had to say and share, but because the time has seemed so short. To catch everyone up, Project Transformation has ended as a program for the eight of us lucky winners, but we are all still in the process of being transformed as is every single person, every single day. All of the new things we see and learn and do, all the new people we meet who affect our lives, all of the people we love-- all of our losses, even--combine to transform us each and every day. And isn't that a lucky thing? Because it means that as long as we live and breathe, we have the ability the capacity to transform into something better than we are right at this moment. Every thought that occurs, every grain of truth that we realize, has the power to change us.
We Project transformation winners had an amazing experience, learning to eat well, to treat ourselves to exercise and excellent self-care, to set goals that we had a method and steps for accomplishing, and take it all out into our own world and have it become part of our lives. What a gift! It was winning the lottery.
So this week, just about two months after the end of our sojourn at the Califoria Health and Longevity Institute, when we are prepared to think about all we are thankful for, that six month time out of time that we were treated to will be right up there with my thanks for good health, a wonderful family, and the life of my darling dog Lucy. That education, that period of tender loving care and wicked hard work is one of the many things that I am thankful for this year. I am thankful for the new friendships I have made this year, and for all the old and faithful friendships that I am so fortunate to have. I cherish them new and old alike.
We are approaching the end of the year, and it is time to take stock. Thanksgiving comes at a good time of year, as it is a prelude to turning over the year (in the Gregorian calendar) and thinking about change. What have we done that we might have done differently, what new challenges will we face, and how do we want to face them this time around. I have learned so much in the past two months about myself, and even about the people that I am most familiar with and thought I knew everything about. I was wrong. I will save this revelation for another day, but I would like everyone I know to stop a moment to take a real clensing breath, and think about how lucky we all are, not because of what we have, but because of who we are, and that we are capable of striving to be better.
In the deepest part of my soul, I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving, meaning being happy about being grateful. What could be better?