In my book, Prayers for Those Standing on the Edge of Greatness, I say that “[p]raise and gratitude are important parts of the process of loving; their light opens our hearts and melts our defenses. Whatever we give thanks for, multiplies and gives way to more good . . . . If we are alive and breathing, we have something to praise and give thanks for.” Gratefully, we have a holiday that reminds us to be thankful.
But sometimes in the midst of all of the preparations and traveling, we forget the importance of gratitude. Giving thanks is powerful for the person that we thank but also for ourselves. Through gratitude, we center in the love of giving and through that energy align with the synergy of absolute good.
Giving thanks aligns us with the flow of calm, peace and thus less stress and better health. The science supports that the more grateful we are, the better our physical health. (See The Science of Gratitude, Greater Good Science Center, 2018)
Our hearts work better when we are more grateful. We sleep better. We are not as tired. We are less swollen. We even heal quicker. Our emotional well-being improves. (See 28 Benefits of Gratitude, Positive Psychology.com, 2019)
Gratitude reduces a number of toxic emotions, like jealousy, resentment, frustration, regret, loneliness, and even depression. Being grateful makes us healthier and happier. Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D., the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude, says that a daily practice of gratitude, like keeping a gratitude journal, boosters our immune system, reduces aches and pains, lowers our blood pressure, increases our exercise regime, results in higher levels of positive emotions, makes us more alert, alive, and awake, gives us more joy and pleasure, results in more optimism and happiness, helps us be more generous, compassionate, and forgiving.
(See Emmons, Why Gratitude is Good, 2010)
I’m not a scientist, but just based on a quick Google search, the science supports that we live longer when we are grateful.
At minimum, we live better. We are more empathetic. We have greater emotional intelligence. We suffer less from depression, substance abuse and even PTSD. We are more resilient. Our health and well-being are improved.
What can we do today, other than eat with reckless abandon and get stressed out visiting relatives that we should have been visiting throughout the year?
We can tell them how grateful we are for them in particular and life in general.
We can move forward by developing a practice of writing letters of gratitude each week.
We can begin to keep a gratitude journal, which only requires us to jot down a few grateful sentiments before going to sleep.
We can thank our family and friends for the little things: the lunch that we shared; the great job that they did on a project; the joy that they bring to our lives each day; the talk that you simply listened to; the changes that you’ve witnessed, no matter how small.
Most of all, this Thanksgiving, we can cultivate new habits that encourage community-building, problem-solving and healthy habits by giving thanks and opening our hearts to give to one another.
This is the first time in years that I cooked for Thanksgiving, not because I was pressured to do so but because that really is my way of saying thanks to my husband and mother-in-law for all that they have done through the nearly 20 years that I have known them.
This is my way of giving thanks to you.
I wish you the best of health, love, light, and wisdom as we travel the path together. I am here because of you, and you are here because of me. In the divine connection, in which we are one, my heart and your heart really are very old friends.
Much love and many blessings,
Cecilia
It was an amazing “second chance” for her to be obedient to her calling.
At the moment I was healed, my calling began to reveal itself, a calling to tell a new story – and not just a single story, but many different stories that transform lives; stories that reveal our authentic voices; stories that not only hold us accountable to who we are but also to who we can be.
As Nigerian novelist 
When I meet with people throughout the Department to explain my role as Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, my job is not only to tell my story but to be a witness to the stories of others and to honor their contribution to the rich tapestry of “One FDNY.”
There is not a single story that I refuse to hear because I am committed to tell the whole story, the story that would otherwise go untold, the story that some are afraid to tell, the story that is 153 years of many different perspectives.
Our story is not only about EMS but also about Prevention, not only about firehouses and stations but also about the communities that surround them, not only about marine rescue but also about fire marshals, not only about not only about uniforms but also about civilians, not only about the lives that perish but also those we birth, nurture, mentor, touch, heal, educate – like our FDNY high school students who are an important part of our family, not only about disputes but also about harmony, not only about discord but also empowerment, not only about men but also about women.
If I told you that being a woman was my only story, it would be an incomplete one.
I was raised in a housing project by a divorced mom, and I had four brothers who I fought every day. I not only fought them physically but intellectually, not only strategically but creatively – later realizing that our battles were lessons that would toughen me as a “hired gun” to fight for clients like ABC, Hallmark, ESPN, the Republic of Chile, J&J, Coca Cola, Citibank, Wells Fargo, Pizza Hut, and so many others for over 22 years.
No matter who I met in “Corporate America,” however, no one provided me with a better foundation for how to tell my story, as well as interpret the stories of others, than my own mother.
First, my mother taught me that we were not poor because poverty meant you were culturally deprived, that you could not find your way to the museums, galleries, libraries, parks, and waterfronts that we frequented for free. Poverty meant that you could not afford to be well-mannered, compassionate and respectful of others, which was not only free but mandatory. Poverty meant that you were not well-read, creative or resourceful enough to think outside of a box because the universe gives us divine ideas for free.
Second, she taught us that wisdom has nothing to do with post-graduate degrees or “book sense.” Common sense is more difficult to come by, she said, even though she completed graduate and post-graduate work. Nobody, she said, knows everything but a fool.
Third, she taught us to love ourselves, that we share the legacy of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglas, Sojourner Truth, Nat Turner, Langston Hughes, WEB and Booker T.
What we call diversity and inclusion wasn’t a career move, it was an obligation for my generation to create diversity organizations, committees, roundtables, expos, job fairs, panels, networking events, gatherings, fellowships, manifestos, and mentoring initiatives, because we loved well enough to know that everyone’s story must be told.
But the most important thing that my mother taught me is to listen – not to an old man in the sky – but to the power within so that I would be that power, behold it in others and serve as a catalyst to set their stories free.
In my book, 
What this means, sisters who are being honored here today, and friends, colleagues and families who support them, is that we cannot look outside of ourselves to someone else to validate our stories.
As God is a Brown Girl Too says:
with Visionary Shaman 
and those who journeyed with me on this experience,
Restorative Justice addresses the needs of individuals and community after harm has occurred, giving those responsible an opportunity to make amends and providing those harmed with a safe space to heal. Circle Keeping, which is not always restorative justice, is an important component of restorative justice. 
The following poem celebrates the experience of the July 8-12 Circle Keeping Intensive at Planning Change, led by Elizabeth Clemants, with love, gratitude and humility.
Us wide-eyed and deep-dived and lazer sharp between messiness, finding magic beyond hatred to the patchwork bones of infinite colors of oneness . . .
With hearts wide enough to welcome all, appreciate all, hold space for all, beyond construct to creator, beyond lies to truth, tasting the sweetness of prophecy, refraining only from
Oh Circle Keepers,
with shoulders as broad as every generation,
Oh, Matt, Dream Weaver
Oh Gina, Wisdom Reborn
Oh Ada, Creative Consciousness
Oh Elizabeth, Hidden Water, Grace Teacher, Freedom Rider, Life Lifter, Timeless Giver, Hope Harvester . . .
Us Circle as One
and Bridges
We Nowhere
We circle as us,
and move beyond fault,
[Everything in the Mindful Leader Blogs are protected by Copyright Law and, unless noted otherwise, are created
Gratitude is one of the most powerful prayers that there is because it places us solidly in the manifestation of what we seek as though it has already happened. Giving thanks as though our good is here lifts us above physical limitations to realize the divine energy of receptivity with a powerful sense of appreciating that our good is there before we even ask. When we know our good is here, we simultaneously open our minds, bodies and souls to receive.
The Psalmist said I will “[e]nter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name” (Psalm 100:4). “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” (Psalm 106:1). Why? Because our good is everywhere present, just waiting for us to claim it.
Scientists say that praise and thanksgiving is beneficial to our immune system, protects our cardiovascular system, helps recover and uplifts our spirit by helping us feel good regardless of whether we have achieved our goals or not. We can always give thanks. By believing that we can receive whatever we ask for, that we don’t have to beg someone outside of ourselves and that nothing and no one can keep our good from us, alone, should make us grateful.
Philippians 4:6 says “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Every single quality that we attribute to God, all of the purity, all of the power, all of the compassion, all of the peace, all of the patience, all of the greatness of God is within us. So why should we be anxious? Why would we deprive ourselves? Instead, we can simply give thanks, and be grateful.
Jesus said “feed my sheep” and what he meant was the food of Spirit.
My teacher, Eric Butterworth, in Spiritual Economics, says that giving thanks is not a “reactionary emotion,” it is a causative energy. He cites Plato, who said more than 2,500 years ago that “A grateful mind is a great mind which eventually attracts to it great things.” It is not just a social grace, it is a prerequisite for success.
1 Timothy 4:4 says “[f]or everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.” God is greater than anything we could imagine; greater than any myth we could conjecture; greater than any name we can create for everything that God is. That’s why it is so important not to limit our prayers and meditations by what we can conjecture because it is far less significant than what lies in the quantum field of endless possibilities.
When my heart is filled with greatness, I realize that the things that I desire, I already have. I know that the universe is always blessing me, that God is Good all of the time. I accept that God expressing as me means there is no limit to what I can do.
We are promised so much that we just gloss over it. We gloss over the fact that the Lord is my Shepherd, so I have everything I need; there is nothing that I want; we gloss over the fact that an entire table is prepared before our enemies; that our heads are anointed with oil; that our cups runneth over; that goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives. Jesus says “”blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:45)
The Psalmist says “my eyes stay open through the watches of the night, so that I may meditate on your promises” (Psalm 119:148). And what are these promises? Jeremiah says to give us “all the prosperity” we want (Jeremiah 32:42). Genesis says blessings through our offspring (Genesis 28:14-15). Deuteronomy says we will be given “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Deuteronomy 26:15), with “praise, fame and honor high above all the nations” (Deuteronomy 26:19).
How does this help us? It allows us to use the power of sound, the power of words to manifest what we want.
The Bible says that on the second day, God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters…and God called the firmament Heaven.” Now when we receive God’s divine idea, at first glance, it may appear to be impossible — because we are looking through the lens of the circumstances and the events around us and we do not see the “heaven” — the ease with which Spirit has already breathed our desire into manifestation.
We don’t need to know all the details — the hows and the whys, Spirit reveals what we need to know when we need to know it. And all we have to do is be willing to move forward and move!
The Bible says that on the seventh day, God finished God’s work, and rested. In other words, God said, it is done. God acknowledged the need to let go and to trust in the universe to manifest our creative desires. These are the final words that you will speak. Take your goal, and make a statement that you leave it in the hands of the universe to grow into its proper form and shape.
Now in the silence. Acknowledge that you will speak it aloud each day. You will be surprised at what will take shape.
Why? Because God is not just God above, or God as judge, or God as answer, or even simply God as love. God is the transformational energy that is not only constantly creating good as us, but God is the force that pushes us to the finished line of its attainment. God is manifesting power and the mere presence of God is the only thing that we need to manifest our desires.
Where is that presence? Neither left nor right Jesus teaches in Luke 17:21. The Kingdom and all that we need is within, is part of every bone, cell, muscle, organ and fiber; is the air we breathe and the space we take up; is in the words we speak and the thoughts we think.
As Paul said in Philippians 3: 12-14, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Our desires you see are from the same spiritual ethers that give us life; they are God’s good seeking us. They awaken us, and they give energy and power and strength to move throughout the universe as the seeds of God that are here to take shape.
We are part of the creative evolution of the universe, called here to not only be the manifestation of what we perceive as good but to be the continuous unfoldment of good for others. We are the trajectory of God’s creation, and the good that we long for – the things and the people and the desires that we have – are here because the Universe needs us to bring them forth.
God doesn’t want us to be deprived of anything. Our goals are not our own, they are God’s vision of good for us. Our dreams are not our own, they are God’s good transforming us. Even our victory — the prize that we are reaching for — is not our own; it is part of the universal fabric that nurtures God’s soul as us.
The prophet Malachi says God will open the windows of heaven and pour out such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. The good that we express from is so phenomenal that it gave birth to us. Our entire movement through this universe that we call life is to bring us closer to the divine will of God.
I want you to be a witness here and now: What does your Kingdom of God look like? What are the colors? What is present? What do you see in this dimension — this space beyond length and height and depth? How do you feel when you know that nothing and no one prevents you from attaining your good?
What is it that you want to see take shape? Don’t limit yourself. God will surpass our greatest dreams. What is in your vortex of infinite ideas? Don’t put any restrictions on it.
Allow yourself to BE One with its energy and its purpose and nonresistant flow of all that is, and ever will be.
All you have to do is claim your good, and God will do the rest.
Her eyes see beyond messiness, beyond confusion, beyond hatred to the pure potential of a future without judgment – with a vision clear enough to appreciate our differences of color, race, age, gender, expression, orientation, culture, lineage, thought, history, pain, blame, and shame.
Her mouth tastes the sweetness of prophecy, refraining only from the profanity of doubt, fear, disbelief, and despair.
Oh Wonder Woman, whose tongue speaks in the sound of oneness that all embryos know as soon as they are born, whose lips part with the truth that makes the world a better place, whose ears listen deeply to innovate ideas – like music making change, like jazz/gospel/blues/rap/be-bopping the sound of success, whose arms carry the persecuted, the sick, the possessed, the demonized, the blind, the traumatized.
You whose hands fold nothing but answered prayers. Your fingers touch the hem of every miracle. Your fists fight as warriors against every injustice, every poverty, every discrimination, every disease. You whose shoulders are broad enough to carry generations, whose heart is as great as every religion, every faith, every creed.
Oh Wonder Woman, Oh Hannah, Sarah, Hagar, Esther, Rachel, Ilana, Dianne, Sephardi, Mizrahi, Alysa, Oh Mary, Martha, Oh Sojourner, Harriet, Oh Maya, Oh Revital, Oh Perri, Oh, Aixa,
Oh Shanell, Oh Stephanie, Oh Sheri, Oh Mignon, Oh Lanesha, Oh Victoria, Oh Tamaya, Oh Miriam, Oh Malou, Oh Tara, Oh Gina, Oh Diana, Oh Mara, Oh Melinda, Oh Tamar, Oh Tal, Oh Myrtle, Oh Leslie, Oh Cassia, Oh Ruby, Oh Tali,
Oh nameless woman at the well, who gave birth to prophets and leaders and doctors and geniuses and gods and queens and kings, you who carry worlds in your loins.
You who will not be touched or groped or violated anymore. You who are not limited to a hash tag because your magnificence makes the “me” – us.
Us Wonder Woman of glorious hope, us days are not our own, they are for greater purpose and realms of pure potential, dancing with the amazing grace that we have been summoned to restore, washing away inequity,
cleaning the disparity, dispensing with the terror, righting the wrong, healing the anger,
We are Wonder Women because we are strong enough to know that one day, there will be peace, and we are bold enough and brilliant enough to behold its magnificence, find its forgiveness, bury its fault, and teach it, nurse it, and feed it from the same bosom that breathes every single soul that ever was and ever will be.
As my Mother would say, may our Circle be unbroken.
God is a Brown Girl Too 