Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Hanukkah!

Mother Nature has blessed the St. Louis area with absolutely perfect weather to greet this Thanksgiving Day and celebration of Hanukkah. This year Thanksgiving is celebrated the day after the first night of Hanukkah. This won't happen again for another 77,798 years according to many calculations. A very special time to give thanks and to rededicate our lives to being thankful....all year round.

Since last Sunday was our "official" celebration of Thanksgiving, today is a day of quiet reflection and relaxation for me. I often think about the many things I have for which to be grateful. My Ulya, our furry family of Lucky Joe, Damien and Spooky, our human family, our friends, our home, our work, our country, our world....I could go on and on. I also think about those who have been challenged to live in countries besieged by terror and poverty. And I wonder why. There are lots of metaphysical reasons I could describe in detail; however, I'm just going to say there are reasons above and beyond my human comprehension. One thought I do have is that this world as a whole focuses way too much on the negative. I've said this over and over again. There is a proliferation of violence in the movies and on TV. People tell me "but the good guys won in the end." Enough already! What one focuses on persists. Although challenging to find them, there are positive stories in the newspapers and on the Internet.

Today, I decided to put links of some GOOD things in my blog. They may make you smile or tug on your heart but all in all they are positive life experiences. Please enjoy!

Grateful: A Love Song to the World
Musicians Nimo Patel and Daniel Nahmod brought together dozens of people from around the world to create this beautiful, heart-opening melody. - See more at: http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=4460#sthash.bo2oAzqr.w3UGy5cn.dpuf

Don't Stop Believing - Thanksgiving Flash Mob
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/27/hill-family-thanksgiving_n_4350434.html

Huff Post Good News (This is a wonderful site for Good News)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/28/top-10-thankful-stories_n_4346605.html

Home for Thanksgiving (Somewhat sad but heartwarming too)
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/columns/bill-mcclellan/mcclellan-home-for-thanksgiving-and-thankful-to-be-there/article_23a56d51-1bba-5665-8633-87a5fc2624e1.html

20 Simple Reasons to Be Thankful
http://www.mindfueldaily.com/livewell/20-simple-reasons-to-be-thankful

Happy Thanksgiving and Hanukkah!

 Enjoy your turkey...

or your latkes

 

or

 

Celebrate Thanksgivukkah and have both!

 

A once in our lifetime when two faiths can celebrate thankfulness to God and

the religious freedom here in the United States that makes this possible.

 

 

Anyone having links to other Good Stuff on the web is invited to add it to the comment section of this blog. 

 

Namaste,

 

Mareda