Perhaps it’s an overdone sort of Thanksgiving time blog post, but I think that especially today when we’re surrounded by crimes, violence, injustice (can you say ‘Ferguson’??) more than we’re usually aware of, it seems the most appropriate time to bring as much attention to the positives as is possible.
Back in college, so very long ago, (okay it’s only been a few months, shut up!) whenever I needed a pick me up, my inclination was to write. Writing can be cathartic, therapeutic, and in countless other ways, helpful. A friend of mine suggested that in order to see the daily positives that I write them down. Since I’ve fought being a compulsive list maker for the greater part of my life, this greatly appealed to me. So whenever I wasn’t in the greatest place in my head, I’d make what I called ‘gratitude lists’. Basically I just wrote one word things that I was grateful for.
I quickly found that regardless of what was going wrong, when you have a page or a page and a half of a list of things you’re grateful for in your life, it really puts things into perspective. Life isn’t so very terrible after all.
So in light of it being Thanksgiving today, and the fact that I haven’t written one of these lists in far too long, I am going to make a list for you here. Hopefully there are things on this list that you can see in your own life and be reminded that they’re lovely things and that the bad things just don’t add up. Forgive me if these things sound silly at times – they’re just things I’m genuinely appreciative of in my life.
home. family. electricity. water. humor. music. old records. heat. blankets. queen sized beds. stable job. toothpicks. tea. coffee. mint. eggnog. working car. friends. telephones. airplanes. passports. the internet. writing. netflix. books. paper. health. travel. oceans. trees. parking lots. grocery stores. pillows. nail clippers. hats. matches. hookahs. ovens. pie. sons of anarchy. motorcycles. universities. hair. beef. good recipes. doctors. letters. medicine. ice. texts. gatherings. dreams. turn signals. snow plows. shovels. snapchat. dogs. ps4. babies. remote controls. recess. laptops. accents. foreign friends. maps. pizza. beer. gin. cigarettes. bedtime. night. keys. sight. oxygen. air mattresses. sunglasses. sinks. coffee mugs. eyes. men with facial hair. men in general. sarcasm. being young. kitchens. being an aunt. deep voices. alarm clocks. the snooze button. toyota. trains. hands. windows. secrets. photos. videos. justice. car talk. rights. headphones. sweaters. boots. home videos. swim suits. grapefruit juice. email. anonymity. aspirin. post secret. words. loyalty. volumes. good television. firemen. whiskey. deep fried foods. contact lenses. locks. board games. cranberry sauce. pecan pie. pocket knives. car jacks. spare tires. funny kids. paychecks. headphones. hair straighteners. washer and dryer. AAA. discounts. wally world. Opi. gyms. Florida. Ireland. Medge. traveling light. muscles. record players. lava lamps. rosemary. sick days. rubber bands. eggplant. pistachios. frosted shredded wheat. writing. church. peace corps. fidesco. gardens. moccasins. beanies. wrist watches. autumn. road trips. boston red sox. memory lane.
I could write a billion more things if I had the time. Or if I was fully awake. But let it suffice to say that there is a lot I’m grateful for, even when I don’t know who to thank or how to say thank you.
I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving.
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