This is a time for us ALL to expand our love and gratitude in the moment we are all in, no matter what’s going on in the outside world around us.

For those of us in the United States, I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving! And no matter where you live in the world, I wish you gratitude, joy and blessings.

Although my family won’t be gathering all together this year, we will be gathering in smaller, more intimate ways. Every Thanksgiving we stand in a circle and we go around to say what we’re grateful for. We also know deep down that no matter what is going on in the world around us, or whatever the circumstances of the moment are, we can be grateful “IN” the moment we are “IN”.

Everyone has an idea what it means to be grateful “FOR” something. It’s easy to be grateful for things that we perceive as being “good.” But what about when we are in a year of challenges like we’ve never experienced in our lifetimes?

All of us know people who have experienced great challenges this year. My heart mourns for, and I hold in deep love and prayer, families who have lost loved ones, people who have lost their jobs, or anyone who feels they’ve lost hope.

In a year filled with challenges that we haven’t seen, it’s understandable that we might not feel so grateful “FOR” those challenges. I also see the innovation, rebirth, and renewal that has occurred in the midst of this major global wake-up-call!

There is a powerful way to experience gratitude – and that is to be grateful “IN” ALL of life’s challenges, no matter what. 

The following life lessons are 3 very important teachings that have helped me tremendously in my life. These lessons are a soothing balm for my soul, like the anchor in my ship when the storm seeks to blow me off course, and/or soothes my aching heart when I see suffering around me, or when I myself might be suffering.

#1. Nothing is bad, it only seems bad: “The content of my life is the curriculum of my evolution.” ~ Mary Morrissey

This is my human life school, therefore all of my experiences, and especially the tough ones are part of my spiritual life lessons.

#2. Generate gratitude regardless of my circumstances. Be watchful of being grateful “when something great happens”, versus simply grateful “IN” my aliveness today. There is always a way to “generate a state of gratitude”, no matter what is going on. When we connect to love and gratitude just because we are breathing – this energy helps connect us to the resources, creativity and the solutions that we need to thrive.

#3. DON’T WISH AWAY THE SUFFERING: I know this feels very counter-intuitive. Do not wish away your own challenges or wish away someone else’s suffering, because you are inevitably wishing away your own spiritual growth and the spiritual growth of the soul you are seeing struggle. 

This doesn’t mean I wish for bad things to happen.

This doesn’t mean I don’t feel sadness, compassion, or I’m not moved to take courageous action to STOP injustice if I see it around me – YES OF COURSE I DO!

I have learned to welcome ALL the challenges as a DIRECT WAY I commune with my higher power, and welcome growth, spiritual deepening and expansion and ask for GUIDANCE daily to my higher power for what actions TODAY I am uniquely being guided to take.

Because I do believe in a higher power, no matter what is happening in the world, I have faith that this power that’s breathing all of us has our back. I trust and know that no matter what is happening, that everything that’s going on is for a greater purpose in our soul’s evolution, as part of our soul’s curriculum.

We’re all in a human life school, and the global pandemic is one of the pieces of that curriculum. It’s a wake-up call for us all. Each soul along this journey has a unique lesson to learn and I think as a global family we have all been asked to recalibrate our priorities, to not be in such a rush all the time, to take better care of ourselves, and put our own health and well-being more at the forefront of our lives. I know this has been true not only for myself and for my coaching clients, but also for our greater global family as well.

This is true FAITH. To know that GOD has our back no matter what is going on. And that there is a Divine Higher Plan at work.

I may not understand or want what’s been going on for us as a species right now. But I am recognizing the gifts in front of us and available to help us recognize this global wake-up call.

So during this week of Thanksgiving – I love the word… “THANKSGIVING”…

THANKS – GIVING – as an ongoing activity.

Let’s GIVE THANKS, not “FOR” only the blessings, but “IN” every experience we are all facing. And let’s do this in an ongoing, ever-increasing way.

Let’s LOOK FOR the good, let’s “pan for the gold,” let’s seek the deeper wisdom and blessings available by means of every experience.

Personally, I’m seeking to suck the marrow out of this opportunity for growth, especially right now during this global pandemic. I’ve also discovered, sometimes the hard way, that if I don’t learn my lessons the first time around, my higher power will find a way for me to receive the lesson one way or another, and it’s often harder the next time around!

So let’s “get our spiritual lessons everyone” the first time! Do you agree?

Even as we face uncertainty as a global family I am grateful “IN” this opportunity for myself and for my human family to evolve!

I am giving thanks in this moment, knowing that this power that is breathing us is far more powerful than we are alone, and that we each contain so much more potential than any situation, circumstance or condition – that no matter what we’re facing we can still dream big, dream bravely, act boldly, accomplish brilliantly, TranscenDance™ blissfully, and create a life we absolutely love living!

What are you grateful “IN” right now?

What are some of your own gold nuggets and spiritual lessons you have learned this year?

And remember – a grateful heart is a magnet for miracles!

In loving support and believing in your dreams!

Jennifer Joy Jiménez

P.S. Please forward this article with anyone you feel needs an uplifting message today, they will surely thank you for it.

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