“Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart.”
– Seneca
In such times as these, it is not always easy to find things for which to be thankful. How can you be thankful at the loss of your job? Who do you feel thankful towards when you have a loved one overseas fighting in one of our nation’s armed forces? How about finding something to be thankful for knowing you will be losing your health insurance, to whom do you say “thank you”? Have you lost your home? Are your retirement savings gone in the fallen stock market and now you have to delay your days of leisure for the next ten years?
This year seems, at first glance, to lack thankfulness.
Yet I am alive. I live and breathe on borrowed time. Important moments in my life could have resulted in my not celebrating this year of 2009. The year 2008 could have been my last.
And yet I am here.
So why am I here when I probably shouldn’t be? I am here because of the love and support of my family. I am here because my family would not give up on me. Due to a medical situation, I almost lost my life. And yet I breathe. And yet I am here.
I could not exist at all. I could be gone from this earth, separate from my loving husband, my supportive family, my wonderful children, and my many friends and co-workers that make life worth living.
But they would not give up on me. Even when my body felt like giving up, their love kept me going.
So what do I have to be thankful for in 2009. I have my life. I have a home to live in with a family that I love and who loves me. I have food on my table. I have a job to go to each workday. I have clothes in my closet.
But above all of these, I have my life.
Yes, there are days when I complain about what life has to hand me, but then I remind myself that I am alive to complain and life does not seem so bad after that.
Ever since that dreadful day, my life has been different. It was after that dreadful day that I truly began to live. Up to that point, I was just existing. But now, now I live.
So if you are alive and breathing, you have much to be thankful for this year. Life is not easy. Nobody ever honestly promised utopia on earth. But look around you and open your eyes, and the blessings that surround you will come alive.
This is the time of year to count your blessings, not your complaints. Count them all and be thankful. But, most of all, thank those around you for their love, their support, their prayers. The more you are thankful for what you do have, the more your life will reflect that thankfulness.
Happy Thanksgiving!
