A belated Happy Thanksgiving to all who were celebrating today. It was a restful day spent at my parents house with an incredibly excited baby who couldn't believe her good fortune when she saw some of the new toys that her grandparents had found for her. She was especially thankful for the little table and chairs and simple shape puzzle.
What am I thankful for this year? Many things.
- I am thankful for a healthy family. Last year we were dealing with my father's heart surgery situation which blossomed into far more than it should have. This year, he is healthy, happy and also enjoying better mobility from a very successful hip replacement.
- I am thankful for a beautiful, vivacious, active and loquacious baby girl. She has made my heart grow bigger and watching her grow and mature is just the most amazing thing I've been a part of. Every day she brings something new into my world. Today it was adding adjectives to nouns "Flowers! Pretty!"
- I am thankful for my wonderful, caring husband. He constantly helps me see so many different sides to things and always helps me be a better person than I am sometimes inclined to be. He also never complains about my hobbies or the time they take or makes me feel bad when I need some space. He is a rare and wonderful person.
- I am thankful for my brand new baby nephew -- my brother's first child. I will probably be this child's only aunt, and I plan to spoil him silly even though he is far away in Houston. He is a beautiful healthy little guy and I am sure the world will be a better place for his presence in it.
- I am thankful for the good friends I have. Making friends has never been easy for me, so I cherish the ones that I have.
- I am thankful that John was able to find a new job, and one that he is very happy to be taking on. I hope it opens up new doors for him and brings fun challenges his way.
- I am thankful for vacation time and grand parents who find joy in spending time with Z
I like your insight: it's true that Thanksgiving is a time for looking thankfully at what we HAVE, and the process that people go through of setting goals or taking stock at New Year's (not me, usually, actually) tends to make one vaguely or not so vaguely dissatisfied with the status quo. I suppose accomplishments wouldn't happen without a certain amount of dissatisfaction, but I think we could use a lot more being mindful of and grateful for what we have -- we would be happier as a whole.
In many ways, although my life isn't perfect, I am right where I want to be, and I am so happy in my family. The greatest treasure.
Lovely sentiments, and nice to read.
Happy thanksgiving! I think those things are better appreciated when they are spoken/written.
This is one of the reasons I love Thanksgiving. It's easy to see the tough things we have to live with day to day. It can be easy to dwell on the negative and what's not going our way. It's nice to take time to think about the things we're thankful for....somehow there is always more than I would have expected. And that's a nice feeling.
Evelyn