Project Plenty

Happy November Everyone!

It's hard to believe that October has come and gone. Especially because I'm sitting here with all fans blowing at top knot speed, trying not to suffocate in this heavy, almost chewable atmosphere. Being the desert "bloom" that I am, this humidity's killing me...not to mention my holiday spirit. But to look on the bright side, my skin's never been softer, my nails never more durable, and my hair's growing like grass.

Halloween was [ahem] a bust. But there were reasons beyond our control for that. I think the most terrifying thing we did this weekend was eat our dinner in the dark, two out of the three evenings. One night was on purpose, the other was not.

Since my mind is fixated somewhere back in May (or June or July or August), I've decided to start a little project to get me in the holiday mode. I invite any and all of you to participate.

Over the past several years, I have (like any other true-blooded American), loved the Thanksgiving holiday in all of its turkey-and-gravy glory. There's nothing quite like pumpkin pie with whipped cream, homemade rolls with melted butter or yams with marshmallows. Even though I never eat it, I would even add green bean casserole with crunchy onions to this list.

And while every year, on the eve of Black Friday, I have nestled into some fabulous tryptophan-induced dreams of crowd surfing over hundreds of Wal-Mart shoppers to secure for myself the killer deals in the electronics department, there's something that has seemed a little hollow about the holiday dedicated to gratitude. Something has seemed to have gone missing.

Maybe it's my lack of real, adequately-expressed gratitude--for everything.

There's always the trip around the dinner table, where everyone expresses thanks for his or her greatest blessing of the past year. But the longer I live, the more I realize how there is plenty in my life for which to be grateful--and that it would take a month for me to adequately express each blessing which impacts my life for good. At least it should take a month.

Enter Project Plenty.

This year I've decided to create a blog dedicated to gratitude. (Click here or on the "Project Plenty" icon beneath the header of this blog.) My goal is to find a motivating thought on gratitude for every day in the month of November (I admit, that this might be a little ambitious, but we'll see how it goes). Each quote will be accompanied by five unique blessings for which I have a new-found gratitude.

My mission is two-fold: 1.) to kick start this holiday (albeit humid) season early this year, and 2.) to not be guilty of one of the "unpardonable sins."

"...Put [the Saints] in happy circumstances and they often forget their God, their covenants and their benefactors. I do not know of anyone, excepting the unpardonable sin, that is greater than the sin of ingratitude; and I do think that many...people are guilty of it."

-Brigham Young

Life has its moments of peace and prosperity, and its moments of turmoil and downturns. But no matter where we find ourselves, there are always blessings which do abound. I have always been blessed with plenty in my life...and where much is given, much gratitude is required.

So let it be written. So let it be done.

P.S. I'd love it if anyone else wants to participate...even anonymously. If you'd like to, leave a comment on the Project Plenty blog, I'll be sure to include your thoughts on the next day's post.