Gratefulness

 Do you ever get a little bit down? I do sometimes. I get overwhelmed. I get scared about the future. I get frustrated with the present. I get rueful about the past. I get mad or sad or disappointed in the people around me.

Maybe you feel a little bit like that right now. A few years ago I turned a phrase that I was proud of: Try this year to enjoy the holidays instead of letting the holidays enjoy you. But I find that, almost inevitably, I end up rushing through from November 1 to January 1, chasing down all the stuff I meant to do and not ever really observing the season.

That's one reason this blog post about gratefulness is a week early. After all, next week is Thanksgiving, but I am going to take some time off next week and rest and prepare for the Advent season, so I won't be writing a blog next Wednesday.

Another reason this post is a week before Thanksgiving is that we really need to start early to make any sense of Thanksgiving. My family, like many of yours, I imagine, has a tradition of saying something for which we are thankful around the table before our Thanksgiving meal. It is good to share those things then, but it would also be good to share them all the time.

I am thankful for my family. I have an incredible wife and two fabulous children. We have two dogs at home and one that went to college. I am thankful for my parents and Joy's parents and our extended family.

I am thankful that I have work that allows me to have a nice home and many extra things that I take for granted. I am thankful that the work I do is meaningful to the people with whom I share it. 

I am thankful that I have relatively good health and am able to do lots of things that I don't usually even notice as abilities.

I am thankful for the many people around me to work to make sure that my work and life is better.

There are many more things for which I am thankful. My list is certainly different from yours, but having taken time to jot down a few of the things for which I'm thankful, those irritating things that I mentioned at the beginning of this blog have migrated to the back of my mind.

It seems simplistic to say this, but that really is a practice that would help us to be more fulfilled in our daily lives. Just taking time to call to mind all the things we are grateful for can change a frustrating day into a beautiful one.

I pray it may be so for you.