{"id":4188,"date":"2015-11-26T09:01:46","date_gmt":"2015-11-26T14:01:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/?p=4188"},"modified":"2015-11-26T09:01:46","modified_gmt":"2015-11-26T14:01:46","slug":"thanksgiving-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2015\/11\/thanksgiving-2015.html","title":{"rendered":"Thanksgiving 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_1983\"If you’ve read my posts about Thanksgiving before<\/a>, you know my basic premise is that we should be thankful everyday, not just this day. In fact, we could be thankful in every moment we are alive. Each moment that we are not, we are missing an opportunity to open ourselves to the grace of being alive.<\/p>\n

Much has been happening in the world lately. Many people in many places are losing their lives in acts of violence. The attacks in Paris have captured the developed world’s attention and motivated a huge outpouring of support, solidarity, and outrage.<\/p>\n

Still, more events like these could occur and each day that they do not is an occasion to be grateful. Each moment that some mishap does not visit us is a victory against the vicissitudes of randomness, genes, and the laws of physics, not to mention the intentions of malicious\u00a0others.<\/p>\n

It can also be helpful to recognize the privilege we enjoy to be having a feast today. While indulging in turkey and traditional trimmings, it can be helpful to recognize how fortunate we are to have enough food to eat. Many people around the world go hungry on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

How to best account for our privilege is an open question that I don’t pretend to have an answer to. One thing that I do know is that there is really no way to let ourselves off the hook. A bit of volunteer work or donating money won’t cut it. We cannot save the world nor can we do our part or not do our part. The wound of the world persists.<\/p>\n

Our primary task is to keep our own house in order: to act with mindfulness\u00a0in the world, to treat ourselves, others, and the environment of which we are a living component with compassion, kindness, and appreciation.<\/p>\n

What we do beyond this is a matter of individual commitment, conscience, and the context of your life in this moment. We can never do enough yet everything we do contributes something.<\/p>\n

Take a mindful breath today before taking a bite of that turkey. Be mindful of the turkey’s life that was taken for you to eat it. Be mindful of the opportunity to gather with friends and family. Be mindful of the peace you are enjoying. Be mindful of the absence of calamity (I am assuming that if you are reading this post that you are enjoying peace and the absence of calamity).<\/p>\n

This is what I’ll be doing today and I wish everyone an abundant, heartfelt, and harmony today and everyday.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4188"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4195,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4188\/revisions\/4195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}