Being Thankful

Today is Thanksgiving. The day we are supposed to be thankful, reflect on the past, present and future and give thanks. I am thankful, don’t get me wrong, but not how you think I should be. Giving thanks can be kind of a blanket statement. I’m thankful because I have healthy children, my bills are paid, I have a job. I’m thankful for the many blessings in my life, so on and so forth. Ok, Ok that’s good, now what? We give thanks on this thankful day but what about the other 364 days? Are you thankful for those too? Are you thankful for the rainy days, the days filled with storm clouds and hail? Are you thankful for the car crash or the medical diagnosis? No? Are you thankful for the economy going up but pay not, or the eggs on your house, during Halloween, that eat the paint? Are you thankful for that your children are so far away or that job you are so thankful for really isn’t the job for you? Are you thankful for how our government is acting or even your neighbor when they let their dog poop in your yard? Yeah, I’m going back and forth and from small too big and big to small issues. Why? Because every single day of our lives we have a choice, a choice of two things. What happens in our lives and how we respond to it.

For a few more years anyways, the sun will come up tomorrow and we get the opportunity to live another day. What happens in that day can cause most people to respond in an emotional way. Our heartstrings get tugged, we hurt in our hearts, or our hearts are full of joy, according to the situation, right? Why is everything so emotional? Because we’re emotional beings you say. Yes, this is true, buuuuut, we shouldn’t be controlled by our emotions. So, I go back to being thankful. Are we just thankful when it feels good? I think being thankful goes way beyond that but it’s a difficult understanding. Let me put it this way. When your young, you seek out to learn, your mind reeling in the fascination of life around you. You want to know. So, you reach out and touch the hot stove. OUCH!!! WAAAAAAA? The pain, the tears. We’ve all been there. But I’m telling ya people, this is a good thing. This is a reason to be thankful for and it hurts. You see, being thankful isn’t all just roses. I’ve often said that roses have thorns and the sooner we learn that the more well-rounded we will be. A bowl of cherries is so delicious, but cherries have pits, and you bite into one of those and oh doggie. But afterwords, you know, and you glean from that so you can still enjoy the cherries and the beautiful roses. That is something to be very thankful for. Get my point?

So, on this day of Thanksgiving, I beseech you to be thankful for even the trials and tribulations of life. The times that hurt and are hard because in the true reality of it, that’s real life. If you understand this way of thinking, then life I believe takes on a very different color. Your eyes begin to open, your mind begins to free itself and you wake up from a walking dead Thanksgiving, with all the Turkey and pumpkin pie, to an aware life and being truly alive. You begin to understand how short and how precious life is regardless of what the day brings forth. Don’t fret that something bad or painful happens. We learn so much if not more from those experiences. When we comprehend this then that is true thanksgiving. So now what are you going to do with that life, because that’s the real gift. You have one shot at this, don’t be afraid, make it the most.