Happy Belated Thanksgiving

Since most of the country just celebrated Thanksgiving last week the holiday has been on my mind. I’ve been thinking about what it really means to be thankful but before we get into that I have something else to get off my chest. Lots of people were complaining before Thanksgiving about Christmas decorations being up so soon. And I admit, October is a little soon, but in the week or two before Thanksgiving I am ready for some holiday cheer. I just think that Thanksgiving leads so well into getting me all warm and giddy inside for the rest of the winter holidays. I am completely okay with decorated trees and joyful music and spiced drinks beginning with Thanksgiving. In fact – I love it!

Now that I went off on this slight tangent I need to pull myself back around to the real purpose of this blog. My message today is to be thankful for what you have. I’m sure everyone has heard a parent say something like, “You better eat those green beans because there are starving children in Africa who would love them!” I don’t know about you but that didn’t make me want to eat my green beans anymore. (This is all hypothetical too, because I actually enjoyed healthy vegetables my whole life.) But still, the reason why I should be happy I have something is because someone else is going without? That doesn’t quite make sense to me. Or what about when someone says to you, “Oh well, it could be worse.” You know what – it could also be so much better too. What good does it do to think like that? We could play the what if, could be, should be, would be, game all day long but that doesn’t change the most important thing – what is.

Be thankful for what is… what is right in front of you, what is important to you, what is in the present. That’s all that you can control anyway, right? There is the quote about the present being a gift. Maybe it’s what’s in the present that is the gift. The opportunity to live is a gift. We all saw on Facebook how many people found things to be thankful for. Maybe you don’t need to post every detail that you are thankful for but feel it, recognize it, and know it in your heart. Carry it with you where ever you are and then you don’t have to wonder any what ifs or could be’s or think about children in Africa (although it would be nice of you to think of them or donate money or something). I can’t say it enough, I am so thankful for what is in my life. This morning as I drank a Cherry Coke and watched the sun rise through the fog on campus, today as I worked, studied, and laughed, this evening as I enjoyed my ice cream sundae with homemade apple pie topping, tonight as I am about to climb into a warm bed, and maybe most importantly, right now, when some of the people I love most in the world are reading what I have to say – I am so thankful for what I have and what is.