"Cyber Monday"--the Monday after "Black Friday" (for Shopping)

Today is "Cyber Monday"--the Monday after "Black Friday" (for Shopping) (that is, the day after Thanksgiving in the USA).  This was "self-proclaimed" last year as the equivalent day for Internet shopping as "Black Friday" is for retail "brick and mortar" stores.

Sales have been promoted over the last few weeks--both in physical stores and Internet stores--and retailers are "letting out the stops" to encourage purchasing any way they can convince shoppers to buy.

I shop regularly via the Internet when I have something that is offered in that medium.  Cyber Monday did not influence me to make any purchases and the ones I'm making now are my routine purchases that I would be making regardless of the day or promotion.

The media is tracking "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday" and reporting the ups and down in shopping compared to last year.  The economy is still having its own ups and downs and there will be more demand for the available dollars than there are dollars.

The "best buys" and "steepest discounts" don't have much meaning if you cannot use the money for shopping the "latest and greatest" (in whatever form it takes.)

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated in the USA on the fourth Thursday in November.  It is celebrated in Canada and in a few other countries.

It is traditionally celebrated as a time of thanksgiving for an abundant harvest and for all the blessings we enjoy.  The holiday itself has, from time to time, had political significance and, these days, it is the marker for the official beginning of the holiday shopping season (which starts on the Friday after Thanksgiving--"Black Friday" because so many shoppers buy that the retailers move into the "black" [positive side of their ledgers] for the balance of the year.)

This year some retailers are staying open on Thanksgiving to get a "jump start" on "Black Friday."

Regardless of the uses to which the holiday has been put, Thanksgiving is a good time to reflect and be thankful.

I'm thankful for the quality time I am able to spend with my mother (who will be 95 next month).  I am also thankful to be in a warm house with abundant food and close friends in a country which is at peace (at home, anyway).  I am thankful for my life experience and the blessings I have enjoyed up to this moment and for the future I can see from where I am standing now.

I'm also thankful for my understanding of God and spirituality and for the choices I have to make my life a positive difference for myself and for others.  I am thankful for the support I have in my work with Spirit and in my daily physical life.