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Give Thanks
By Charles
Wm. Skillas, Ph.D., DD, BCH, FNGH, CI
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We have to give thanks when we are feeling the worst.
This really helps. I know it helps me. It does not require
you to believe in a higher power or God or any religion
or anything, including yourself. You might have just lost
your job or all your money or your love has left you or
you got news that you have cancer or some other misery
or that your child has died or you are a quadriplegic
or in the depths of despair and are thinking of suicide
… giving thanks helps you. It does not matter who
you are thanking. Just doing it helps you.
There is one day per year when we are reminded to give
thanks and that day is Thanksgiving. But we need to
give thanks every day, many times for our own benefit.
It helps us. We might think when in the depths of anguish
that there is nothing to thank anyone for and if there
is who is it? It doesn't have to be anyone in particular.
Pick something like nature or the sun or the ocean or
the universe or the solar system if you don't believe
in a higher power like a God or something. It is great
if you believe in a God to thank, but many people in
misery find it difficult to thank someone like God who
they may blame for their problems.
The fact is that God does not cause our problems. In
the old testament of the bible, the Judaic God was a
vengeful God and He smote the transgressor in terrible
ways. That is not the God that really exists. I believe
that God created us with love to express whatever God
is and that we live many times experiencing all kinds
of problems and that when we finally get it right, we
go back to this infinite power. I believe that we are
perfect beings because we were created by perfection
and that this perfection dwells within us. It is our
divine spirit. Carl Jung called this perfection, this
divinity, the Superconscious Mind. We often call it
the High self … the part of us that has always
been perfect and always will be. The Huna of
Polynesia studied our three selves for thousands of
years and named these three selves Superconscious Mind
(Amakua), Subconscious Mind (Unihipili) and
Conscious Mind (Ohane). If you want to know more
about these three selves, study the Huna or take my
hypnotherapy class.
Giving thanks in the midst of adversity is like forgiving
those who have transgressed against us. You are not
forgiving them for what they have done to help them
… you are forgiving them because it helps you!
No matter how bad off you are, you can always find something
to be thankful for. Look at Stephen Hawkins, the great
physicist. He cannot move or speak and yet he is fathoming
the universe. I think he is thankful for his wonderful
mind, which is an expression of his perfect self.
Adversity, if it doesn't kill us, makes us stronger.
An old adage says, "The strongest steel comes from
the hottest fire". That may be why so much crap
happens to us in life … to make us stronger and
to learn. It takes strength to give thanks and be grateful
when you are suffering, but why not try it? The mere
act of expressing gratitude for what you have, even
though what you may only have left is the spark of life
within you, will help you. The act of gratitude is a
holy act and I think it clears the energy meridians
of the body, because you feel better right away. We
do this in hypnotherapy and it helps greatly. Getting
the Chi life force energy moving through you, nourishing
the cells of your body makes you feel better.
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