Thanksgiving Backgrounds - How will you pay tribute to Thanksgiving in your PowerPoint presentations this month? Photos of fall colors and food, inspirational quotes, images of pilgrims and turkeys?
Thanksgiving is more than a feast for the palate, noses, and eyes. According to American novelist and playwright Thornton Wilder:
"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."
Well said!
When you are presenting or performing, it is a wonderful opportunity to be conscious and alive and aware of the moment, to focus intently on every detail of the here and now. Presenting and performing are particularly passionate moments: a time to treasure.
Perhaps that is why so many folks are afraid of speaking in public. It's not necessarily self-consciousness that causes panic; it could very well be consciousness.
One of the books on my night stand is "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle. In it, Tolle writes (and I am paraphrasing) that most human beings are seriously mentally ill because we let our minds live in the past or in the future, instead of guiding our consciousness into truly noticing and appreciating what we have in the present moment.
Of all the things in the universe you could be doing right now, you are reading these very words.
Right now.
So it could be that this is a message from the universe, intended especially for you.
Wake up.
Pay attention.
Be thankful for this moment, for this very here and now.
