While not everyone who reads this message, because of their own circumstances, will feel like being thankful this week, I thought I would take a break from our usual discussions to share a few thoughts that my own family has embraced for several years on Thanksgiving. It is an incomplete and changing list of some of the things we have to be thankful for, with a measure of reality thrown in to keep us from feeling too smug about being Americans, or living in America. The thoughts are intentionally not sectarian or religious. I hope they have a universal human quality about them.
We are thankful
– for the laughter of children and for their inquisitiveness
– for our lives, which are always tenuous
– for the abundance of food available to us
– for efforts to assure that all are fed
– for the workers who grew and harvested our food
– for the ones who prepared it
– for the roof over our heads
– for the clothes we wear
– for our health, mental and physical, recognizing that health is not enjoyed universally
– for the opportunity to enjoy the company of family and friends
– for our memories of loved ones past
– for people who help one another, recognizing that blessings are not shared equally
– for the beauty we see
– for the work and hope of many people to make the world a better place for all
– for freedom of heart and mind and body, freedom not found everywhere
– for all of these things and more
May you find reasons for gratitude this Thanksgiving!
Well said, Lamar! The “Attitude of Gratitude” is also helpful when major losses come into our lives. Remembering the good times and being thankful for them is more satisfying and soothing than getting angry at the universe for having taken away something we loved, something we thought was OURS.
Good thoughts, Lamar!
You and June are included on my list.
Thank you!