What’s in a word?  Thanksgiving evokes thoughts of having a day off to eat turkey with our friends and family and watch football. Most of us stress too much shopping for and preparing the meal. We then eat too much, spend too much on “Black Friday” and then regret too much.

The official holiday was created by President Lincoln in 1863 as a national day of thanksgiving. That’s a nice idea. To have one day set aside to be thankful. For our country, our freedom, our abundance, our families. But they felt it needed some history behind it so they attached it to the Pilgrims. Why them?

I was taught that the pilgrims, in search of religious freedom, landed on Plymouth Rock after an arduous journey from Europe. The early Plymouth records refer to all passengers from the first four ships as “First Comers”. Now that’s an interesting phrase. It sounds bold, brave and curious. All qualities I admire. I looked up the definition of Pilgrim and found: “a traveler, one who has come from afar and is on a journey”.

That puts an interesting slant on the historical context for me. Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks and remember the pilgrims coming from afar on their journey.  I like thinking of myself as a first comer on my journey in life. It does make me feel brave, bold and curious.

Does it help me to be thankful? Of course it does. I feel better when I appreciate my life and my gifts. But did you know the words thanks or appreciation are the most powerful vibrations for healing, transformation and potentially peace?

Dr. Emoto, the author of “Miraculous Messages from Water”, was asked if he had come across a particular word or phrase in his research that he found most helpful in cleaning up the natural waters of the world. Dr. Emoto identified a special combination that seems to be perfect for this: “love plus the combination of thanks and appreciation reflected in the English word gratitude.

Just one of these is not enough. Love needs to be based in gratitude, and gratitude needs to be based in love. These two words together create the most important vibration. And it is even more important that we understand the value of these words. For example, we know that water is described as H2O. If we were to look at love and gratitude as a pair, gratitude is the H and love is the O.

Love is an active word and gratitude is passive. When you think of gratitude — a combination of appreciation and thankfulness — there is an apologetic quality. It’s coming from a reverential space, taking a step or two back. I believe that love coming from this space is optimal love, and may even lead to an end to the wars and conflicts”.

This year I am bold like the pilgrim giving thanks for all the abundance in my life. I maintain a constant state of gratitude. I am a traveler from afar on a journey towards a better me. What a trip! Happy Thanksgiving. Ardis