This is Thanksgiving month. But, why wait a few weeks to celebrate? Everyday is Thanksgiving, or could be at least. I am feeling a little down today for some reason and I haven’t been sleeping well. I am sure those things are related. But I am determined to lift my spirits (and maybe sleep better tonight in the process) by simply acknowledging all the wonderful things that I have to be thankful for. I bet many of them are true for you as well.
I am thankful for the millions of Americans who have protected our country in the armed services. Yesterday was Veteran’s Day, but isn’t everyday really? I can still hope for a world someday in which militaries are unnecessary, instead relying on games of go-fish or twister to settle international disputes and security kept through honor and trust and respect and fairness. But I am so grateful that I personally never had to serve and that others took that vow in my place.
I am thankful for the multitudes of people who move stuff through the supply chain and get it to me at retail establishments or delivered right to my door even. And thank you to all the people making the electricity for my home and deodorant and printer paper. I wouldn’t really know how to do that. Thank you to the medical professionals working long dangerous hours during this (and for the next) global pandemic. I know my doctor looked really wiped out when I saw her last for some routine care.
I am thankful for my endocrine system and fatty acid oxidation and Krebs cycle pathways and functioning eyes and taste buds. If I simply stop and think about the miracle of my (albeit problematic) ball and socket joints I cannot help but feel joy and gratitude. This computer I am typing on is frickin amazing compared to anything I could build or even the $2,000 antiquated clunker we bought a quarter of century ago.
I am thankful for the baseball playoffs stepping in to ease the pain of the days shortening and the rains returning to the Pacific Northwest. The comfort of sitting by a fire watching great football through this time of year and planning the next pot of homemade soup is wonderful.
I am thankful I can write this and that I can share it with others. I am thankful for the loving friends and family that I have and those I have yet to meet. I am thankful for live music returning; I’ll be off to another show with my lovely wife in less than twelve hours. I’m thankful for new as well as comforting familiar.
I am thankful for my weakness or challenges for they too are my strengths and opportunities. Lifehack: it all about bring things that are out of balance into balance. I’ll likely never be a worry-free person, but my hyper-vigilance sure has kept me safe. I’m just working on being a little less hyper-vigilant, but normal-ish-vigilance may never be more than a stretch goal for me. That is okay. I am good with managing and not curing. I am thankful for not having to cure.
I am thankful for the infinite entertainment that my monkey brain seems to provide. All I have to do is start stirring in the morning and it is going a million miles an hour from thoughts about God to permanence to optimal retirement portfolio construction. I am thankful that when I fell anxious or down or any other way that I think I would like to change I have learned tools for doing just that. Writing, meditating, going out of doors, breathing slowly and deeply.
I am thankful that I can now go and sit and meditate (really!)
