ArizonaRealCountry.com 5 November 2018 Arizona REAL COUNTRY the magazine Mike Barna Publisher mbarna@963realcountry.com (602) 622-3695 Erika Smith Royal Editor erika963realcountry@gmail.com Misty Voitovski Creative Director Contributing Writers Lee Anderson, Desiree’Byrne, Charlie LeSueur, Jim Olson, Robert Piekow, Bill Roberts, Alan Rockman, Bob Roloff, Buddy Uldrikson, Michele Wilson Arizona Real Country is owned and published by Barna Broadcasting LLC. No person, organization or party can copy or reproduce the content on our website and/or magazine or any part of this publication without a written consent from the editor’s panel and the author of the content, as applicable. The publisher, authors and contributors reserve their rights with regards to copyright of their work. Follow Arizona Real Country for news, events, giveaways and more! 801 W. Wickenburg Way Wickenburg, AZ 85390 (602) 622-3695 ArizonaRealCountry.com It started close to 400 years ago in New England. The modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition traces its origins to a 1621 harvest celebration at Plymouth. There is also evidence of an earlier celebration by Spanish explorers in Florida during 1565. As far back in recorded history as you go, there have been celebrations of thanks at harvest time. The Plymouth feast and Thanksgiving are what we celebrate in America. They were prompted not only by a good harvest but also in appreciation of the Native Americans who helped the Pilgrims by providing seeds and also for showing the settlers the tricks of hunting in the area. Some say if the Natives could have foreseen the future onslaught of European settlers coming, they may not have been so hospitable! But seriously, it would not have mattered; this continent was destined to be “discovered” by the rest of the world no matter what. Sooner or later, somebody would have “found it,” that’s for sure. Progress and change are always coming. I believe there is a silver lining to every situation. Thinking along those lines, looking at it from a positive point of view, folks should be glad the Pilgrims who came here first (after the Natives that is) were the Christian based Europeans they were. Imagine if Red China or another country like that had gotten here ahead of the Spanish. There would be no “Native American” culture alive and thriving here…or any other type of free “American” culture for that matter. “Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.” Alphonse Karr There are always positives in every situation, something to be thankful for, you just have to look for it. I am thankful that America is here today. Being thankful is so much more than a once-a-year holiday tradition. Daily thanks are more important than some may realize. It has the power to set the tone of an entire day, project, week, year, or a lifetime. It is hard to be grouchy, negative or in a bad mood when you are focusing on being thankful! I start every day by giving thanks for my many blessings in life, even if at times they seem hard to count. No matter what kind of mood I wake up in, it doesn’t take long to change my outlook once I’ve thought about the positives in life. “Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Gal. 6:7 Remember what we plant within ourselves in the way of thoughts, feelings and attitudes are the seeds of our outer life experiences. All things have their beginnings within us—in thought. For some that is hard to believe, others never really think about it, but upon further analysis, it can be no other way. By Jim Olson ©2018, WesternTradingPost.com Giving Thanks “The ancestor of every great action is a thought.” Ralph Waldo Emerson If you approach life in a surly or negative mood that is exactly what life will give you back. Snapping at the person behind the counter or on the other end of the phone does not get you better customer service. As a matter of fact, it gets you worse service! If you act like this, you will not get favors, special treatment or opportunities that a positive person in a good mood might get. Give attitude—get attitude. When you get right down to it—it is your thoughts, which control your attitude. How you think about things determines whether you are in a good or bad mood. Besides not getting customer service and productive interactions with your fellow man, thoughts are also the basis of most everything material as well. Buildings, machinery, techno-devices, money and such do not just spring into reality on their own, by spontaneous combustion. They originate as the product of someone’s thoughts and dreams first. Folks who invent and plan the products and successful ventures never do so out of negativity or with a “that won’t work” type of attitude. “Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, either way, you are right.” Henry Ford Many folks say that things on the invisible plane such as “luck,” “fate,” and “chance,” whether good or bad, are created through your own thoughts. Think productive, happy, positive thoughts and things seem to go your way. Be negative, grouchy and surly and things never seem to work out for you. The negative type of folk generally point a finger at the positive type and say things like, “He was just born lucky, everything he touches turns to gold while everything I touch turns to bull manure.” The so-called “Midas touch.” They honestly believe that— then wonder why life turns out bad for them. There is a direct correlation between what you think and feel and how things turn out for you. Think about it: Everything starts with a thought (even this great big universe started out as a Divine thought somewhere). How you think then sets the tone for how you feel. Negative, grouchy thoughts turn into bad moods just as happy, positive thoughts turn into good moods. How you feel, determines the mode of action you take in life. If you feel good, you interact with folks likewise. continued on page 6