For those of us who live in the U.S., Thursday is the day we pause to count our blessings. In honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, I decided to blog about the good things in my life...
1) I am grateful for our 2 daughters, 2 sons-in-law, and 2 granddaughters. They are at the top of my list of blessings.
2) I am thankful for extended families. There may be squabbles and disappointments over the years, but they are still family.
3) I am grateful for friends. When I was a Brownie Scout, we learned the song, "Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold." I think we need to add a verse about special online friends, as well!
4) I am thankful for health. When you lose friends and family members to cancer and other terrible circumstances, you more fully appreciate how precious a gift it is to have good health.
5) I am thankful to my Creator for the wonderful home we call earth. I love the measured change of the seasons, and the little miracles of nature both large and small. From the quiet buzzing of the honey bee on a summer morning, to the fragile, fleeting beauty of a rainbow, to the mighty roar of a powerful waterfall, we live on an amazing planet.
6) I am grateful that love is always stronger than hate. And that even in the midst of the most hopeless situations, there is always someone who keeps the tiny flame of hope alive.
7) I am glad that friends and family forgive me when I make mistakes, and I am grateful to have a God who forgives as well.
8) I am grateful to wake up each morning and know that it is a new day, unblemished and fresh.
9) I am grateful for the innocence of children. When I was teaching second grade, I worked for weeks with my crop of enthusiastic seven-year-olds on the play version of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. We put it on for the parents two days before the holiday, and it produced laughs and tears as we all saw the event through "the eyes of a child".
10) I am grateful for challenging work. I loved teaching, but it is a really wonderful gift to be engaged in the career I have dreamed of for so long.
11) I am grateful for my fun and creative husband. The love and support he gives me is interwoven through each of the previous ten items on this list.
My litany of blessings could go on for pages... the country of my birth, the strength of the human spirit, books and movies, technology, the softness of a baby's cheek...
On any given day we can look around us and find people who are better off than we are and people who are worse off. Our challenge is to operate from our little niche on the planet and play the hand we are dealt. Return anger or indifference with kindness. Offer a smile in the face of rudeness. Give, expecting nothing in return. Be ready with a helping hand when others stumble.
Have an attitude of gratitude and reap the benefits of a blessed life.
Happy Thanksgiving to one and all, and may the calories in the feast you consume be vaporized before they land on your thighs!
Sincerely,
Janice
11 comments:
Well said, Janice. I'm thankful for all of that also, and because of it, I try to have an attitude of Thanksliving, and not just during the Christmas season.
I think I'm gaining pounds just thinking about what I'll eat this week! Enjoy everybody!!!!!
Simply beautiful, Janice - you should be a writer! LOL
I'm also thankful for the beauty that surrounds and the love that abounds!
May everyone's blessings be bountiful this Thanksgiving!
Hugs to all,
Laurie
I also am grateful for my daughter and son and my six grandchilden and for the ex's who were part of the family for while. And for the friends that I have made on the chat groups that I belong to. I am also grateful for the good health I have so far and for the wonderful DH who I have had 37 wonderful years with and hope to continue with more of them.
Janice that was beautifully said. I am thankful for so much as well, and hope that all of my online friends and their families have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
I am so thankful for each and everyone of you.
"Thanksliving" - what Lisa said - I like that. It's a wonderful sentiment.
Janice, I loved your list. There is so much to be thankful for, everyday. When I feel road rage coming on, or get irritated that I have to wait in line, I try to remember that maybe, just maybe I'm avoiding a big accident or something equally awful, that these delays happen for a reason and I should be grateful that I'm waiting in line instead of complaining about it. Having worked retail, I know it's not (always) due to lazy employees.
That was so great Janice.
I am thankful to have a job I really like this year, the last few years were rough.
I am thankful for my cat Sammy he has made the last year bareable.
I am esp thankful for family and friends that are an important part of my world.
the same to you janice. thanks
Ah, ladies... thanks for taking the time to make yourselves heard. I am very thankful for each of you!!
Janice
I am thankful for a lot of things but this year I am thankful the most becasue my Hubby is home for the holidays and so many of our friends here at Camp Lejeune do not have their hubby or wife home.
Cara - That is indeed something to be thankful for! Being separated at the holidays must be very hard to bear...
Janice
What a beautiful list, Janice. I am thankful for some of the very same things.
My beautiful daughter
My loving Husband
Family, friends, and health.
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