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It's that time of year again, it seems. Thankfulness. Loads of "what are you thankful for" posts on Facebook. Everyone sharing Thanksgiving memes and being "kind" to one another. Or at least putting forth the semblance of being kind.
I usually just ignore. "The holidays" aren't my favorite and all of the sugary-sweet posts just make me feel cynical. Sure, I know some of the people well enough to know whether their hearts are behind these things and whether, in some cases, they're absolutely NOT. Maybe they don't know another way to express it?
So what IS it that really irritates me and makes me feel totally cynical? Insincerity is part of it I think. Mainly though I think it's more wondering where this attitude of thankfulness is for the rest of the year. Sure, it is great to be thankful and I don't want people to stop posting what they want to post. But for crying out loud, don't just post a meme - SHOW IT! Show some action to go with it. Show a general, overall attitude of thankfulness every day.
So what am I thankful for? So many things. But rather than list a bunch of things, which I'll likely do anyway, please just tell me you see my daily attitude of thankfulness. Because it's there. Every single day I am thankful.
There's this thing that happens to me (and I'm hoping it's not just me and yet another indication that I'm crazy) when my mind gets so flooded with thought that all of the individual things just sort of come together into a big ball of jumbled thought-bubble. It forms and floats around and if you were to pop it, a million thoughts would fall out that would take forever to sort through. So I guess I'm saying that I have a "thankfulness bubble."
My Thankfulness Bubble is packed full all the time. Packed with small things like the smell of freshly cut grass and the saltiness of bacon all the way to big things like my best friend and the love of a good dog. There are a myriad of things in between like my eyesight and the fact that I have two healthy legs to carry me and a God I love and believe in. From the smell of coffee all the way to the men and women in the military who risk their lives for freedom. From every heartache I've ever experienced and learned from to the technology that keeps me connected to the people I love. Thankful to be HOME. For the the beautiful full moon tonight. And thankful that the wind doesn't blow at 50 mph here all the time.
Wait. What was that? I'm thankful for heartache? Absolutely without a doubt I am SO thankful for every bit of pain and heartache. Why? Because it taught me. It made me stronger. And without it, I wouldn't be able to experience or appreciate the joys in life. I wouldn't be me.
For more of my thoughts of that see my post here: Thank Goodness for Quilted Toilet Paper
So I will go enjoy Thanksgiving with friends and family tomorrow. I'm thankful for that because I haven't always had it. There have been quite a few Thanksgiving days spent alone. Which makes me all the more thankful now.
But rest assured that I find thankfulness every single day. In everything. Life's just much better that way.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and Happy Every Day too. Today, tomorrow and always!
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
~ Melody Beattie
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