It is a time where countless people seem to have lost financial stability. Many are stressed with worry, struggle to pay the mortgage, feed their families and maintain status; this is indeed a time to be grateful for what we really have. We all hold intangibles which are blessedly special. Intangibles represent matters of the heart, soul and character. Truth, honesty, loyalty, hope, peace, and love are intangibles. There are many more intangibles which grace our lives, often unnoticed.

This year, a friend lost her home to foreclosure. It nearly drove her to a panic at first. It started when she was laid off work. As each month passed she could feel the dreaded situation drawing closer. As her bank account and savings drained she struggled to cover the bills. She found temporary work, something to keep the wolves at bay, but not enough to hold on to her house.

One would think that she has nothing to be grateful for, that she is on the losing side of life. She doesn’t see it this way anymore. She has chosen to reach for hope instead. As her perspective changed from dread to hope, so did life around her. She saw that her beautiful children were grateful to have her home more often, she felt their love. She found her good friends offering support, childcare, meals, and tea time discussions which led to fantastic new ideas. In her friends she found loyalty. She realized that when she finely had some time to stop and listen to the still small voice within her, that she had been unhappy in her prior work and that now was a good time to revisit her dream of having her own business. In herself, she found honesty, and truth.

It is said that all we need is within us. It is said that our greatest fear is to realize how incredible we are. We may have to do something with our God given blessings and power and actually believe in ourselves. Each one of us is a miracle, each one of us can embrace happiness, simply by changing our mind. Choose to shift to a higher vibration of personal empowerment. Choose to allow good into your life. Choose to see that you have not lost everything, but rather that you hold a multitude of intangibles. When you shift your perception to hope, you are on the path to manifesting a new direction, a new life.

Now is a good time for giving thanks and to reflect on the plentitudes in our lives. I challenge you to make a list of ten, no twenty blessings which you are grateful for this past year. I challenge you to include in your list at least five intangible examples. Expand on the intangibles, journal your finding and cherish how you discovered them.

Next, make note of at least five new blessings you can create in your life in the coming year. It is important to release any limited thoughts you might have about receiving and working for these new blessings. Just know that what you focus upon has a way of coming to fruition.

Be grateful my friends, we are all in this together so reach out to one another both to hold each other up and to rest upon a shoulder as needed. It takes strength to lift one another up.