Kay:

Hello, Questers. It is a very special day today because it’s November 25th. This is episode 474. It is a Thursday, the final Thursday in the month of November, which means today is one of all of our favorite holidays, Thanksgiving.

Shi:

Yes, here in the US we are celebrating Thanksgiving, always a fun holiday. But today is extra, extra special for our family because it is our mom Misty Young, the Gaga, the one and only Misty Young, it is her birthday today. And it’s not just her birthday, it is a special birthday. She is turning 60 years old. Happy six decades on this planet, Mom. We’re so happy to be celebrating with you today in person at your house. So, Thanksgiving, a 60th birthday celebration. It’s a great day, Kay.

Kay:

It is a fantastic day. We drove up in here to Brookings just a couple of days ago and it’s so wonderful too, for all of us to be together in this time. We don’t get to see mom and dad in person for Christmas, so, we do Thanksgiving and mom’s birthday on Thursday (today). And then tomorrow, we’re going to do our Christmas celebration, so we’ve all been affectionately calling this Birthankmus.

Shi:

And how fun it is. Today being the 25th also means it is one month until Christmas. So, we hope you are feeling as festive as we are, and we’re going to bring you a quote today from somebody that all three of us, our mom, Kay, and myself, love dearly and study tremendously and also reflects very, very well something that our mom does at expert level. So, your quote today is from Sadhguru, and he tells us, “Gratitude is not an attitude. Gratitude is something that flows out of you when you are overwhelmed by the recognition of what you have received.”

Kay:

Now, Sadhguru is a yoga teacher and obviously a guru who comes out of India. He is wonderful and a great teacher, but we chose this quote today for our mom because she is someone, if you’ve ever encountered her then you know, who truly displays this idea that gratitude flows out of you in the state of being overwhelmed at recognizing what it is that you have. I don’t think there’s anybody out there, Shi, in this whole world. I mean, maybe somebody in this world, but no one I know who’s better at recognizing their gifts than our mom.

Shi:

Mom, and you truly do. You flow gratitude better than anyone that we’ve ever seen or met and thank you for being that example. Of course, being the eye-roll teenager and young children of you, sometimes your level of expectation around gratitude seemed like it was unrealistic. Now I could not be more grateful for how much you demonstrated that power of appreciation, that need for thanksgiving, and that beauty that gratitude can be. If you’re wondering about Sadhguru, and Kay mentioned guru, Guru is it’s a Sanskrit word for mentor or guide or like a spiritual teacher. So, many of us have in the Western world have co-opted the word guru to mean somebody who just knows everything about a certain subject. But it really has a lot of spiritual significance historically speaking. Certainly, this mentor and spiritual teacher Sadhguru is one that we love. But I think mom is a gratitude guru and truly you’ve mentored us in this skill of flowing gratitude, and it is really beautiful to have seen it demonstrated for so many years.

Kay:

Well, I think that the second portion of this quote, when he talks about the overwhelmed by that recognition, I think a lot of us have this misconception of gratitude that it is a feeling that we just stoke out of nowhere like, “I’m grateful. I’m grateful. Oh, I’m just so grateful. I am grateful. I am grateful. I am grateful. “ You’re probably saying that to yourself right now, “I am grateful.” Well, let me ask you this question: For what? Now, you’ll probably say my family, the roof over my head. Okay. But then for what? But then for what? But then for what?

By getting to the space of gratitude where it flows out of you because you’re overwhelmed at the recognition. It’s not pulling gratitude out because you know that you’re supposed to be grateful. It’s recognizing things to be grateful for, and then getting overwhelmed by that feeling of “Wow, look at what I’ve been given. Look at what’s in front of me. I’m just so grateful.” That’s that state of flow. Now, it can be cultivated by thinking of things that make you grateful by pulling into that back pass. But I want to make sure we make that differentiation here because what I believe Sadhguru is talking about is much deeper than your traditional well, I’m grateful, I’m grateful, I’m grateful. Well, for what?

Shi:

Luckily the more you practice it and the more you say it, I think the more authentic it truly does become, but no one demonstrates this overwhelming flow of energy better than our mom. Mom, I’ve seen you time and time again just take in a scene, even something simple, like cooking in the kitchen or looking out the back porch or a one-on-one conversation while driving. We’ll literally watch you get overwhelmed with this emotion, with this flow of gratitude, and then to hear you express it and to give it always feels good. Always helps everyone around you feel it as well and authentically tap into that energetic signature of gratitude and maybe open our eyes a little bit and look around and say, “You’re right. This is pretty amazing. Of all of the perspectives available to the 7 billion people on the planet. The view I’ve got in front of me right now is pretty dang impressive and pretty dang privileged and I’m so grateful to get to have the honor to be the steward of this human perspective in this moment.”

Kay:

So, as a reminder here on our mama’s birthday, what our shared, loved, beloved teacher Sadhguru tells us, “Gratitude is not an attitude. Gratitude is something that flows out of you when you are overwhelmed by the recognition of what you have received.”

Shi:

Alright. Today’s Thanksgiving Thankful Thank-chris-birthday-mus quest for all of you today is to help us give our mom a very happy birthday by choosing to flow gratitude all day, Whether or not you’re celebrating Thanksgiving like we are here in the US, choose to tap into that flow of gratitude and help us celebrate Gaga. Mom, Misty Young. Are you ready?

Kay:

Let’s quest! Happy birthday, gogs.

Shi:

Love you.