Thanksgiving...

Giving thanks... being grateful... appreciating abundance, blessings, family, food...

My first two attempts at writing this blog were a bit (okay, a lot) cynical. I found myself starting to write from the viewpoint that we all take this one day of the year to be grateful, and the other 364 to be ungrateful. But ya know, when it was coming out, it felt wrong... unnatural... because I'm not a cynic. I'm a cock-eyed optimist, a wee bit of a Pollyanna, the perpetual cheerleader in the game of life. So I'm not going to fight it...

I am grateful! I'm thankful today, tomorrow and every day for the wonderful things in my life, and for the not so wonderful things that have made me as strong as I am. I'm thankful for the mistakes I've made, because I've learned from them. I'm thankful for the people in my past who have hurt me, because they have helped me to grow. I'm thankful for the difficult times I've gone through, because I'm better for them.

It's fine to be thankful for family, friends, abundance, and other great things, but I feel we need to be thankful for the pain, too. A life without pain is a life without passion... a life without growth... a life without depth. We wish no suffering on ourselves or others, but unfortunately, it is inevitable. People we love hurt us, we lose loved ones, we suffer health issues, poverty, despair... Although we all suffer, what defines us is what we do with that pain. Do we wallow in it? Allow it to consume us and sap all joy from our being? Or do we grow from it? Perhaps we develop compassion for others and use our experience to help another through their pain. Perhaps it develops in us a forgiving heart and we gain inner peace.

I'm not advocating that we stand around the Thanksgiving table and give thanks for the terrible things that have happened in our lives, but what I am saying is, while you're alone some time... be it tomorrow, or any other day, let's be a little grateful for how we've grown through adversity.

I think I'm going to try it, right here... cuz ya know, gotta practice what I preach! So my friends, here goes:

While I am not in the slightest bit thankful or happy that I lost my mother when I was 10, I am grateful that the experience taught me compassion for others who have gone through similarly difficult times.

While I'm not at all thankful that from the age of 10 on I had no one in my life I could lean on, I'm grateful that the experience taught me independence and gave me the ability to deal with most any situation on my own.

While I sincerely regret the mistakes I made as a parent, I'm grateful that the experience taught me the healing forgiveness of the two most important people in my life, and grateful that we share the deep loving bond we do.

While I grieve for my father's failing health, I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to care for him and show him how much I love him.

Hmmmmm.... that felt kinda good.