As we all are fortunate enough to gather with loved ones this Thanksgiving Day, let us see each other in a different light. Make it a point to speak to those who you usually avoid or just make small talk with - talk to that one person or persons and find out as many different things as you can. Who knows, it might make you appreciate them or yourself even more. A college professor once said that one should strive to learn a little about a lot of things instead of a lot about a limited amount of things because by doing that, you will always be able to communicate with more people. More topics you know about, the more conversations you are able to have with many others. In other words, do not limit yourself to certain things. I have taken that to heart through-out the years and have opened myself up to different things and people that I might not have otherwise given second thought to in the past. I have been lucky to meet so many people and to make so many friends - lifelong friends. Plus, I have been able to learn things about current loved ones and continue to learn (vice versa).
Things I am thankful for this year are many and varied, but I always revert back to being thankful for loved ones. Long ago I lived in San Antonio and was not always able to go home for the holidays and I missed it. Since having moved back close to my family, I try hard not to take it for granted. Most people who know me realize what great importance I place on my loved ones. Family, friends, they are all the same...to me, family consists of people who are in your life no matter what and those who would do as much for you as you would do for them...no room in my life for fair-weather friends. I have been blessed with loved ones who are caring, mindful, and loving; those who will listen when you just need an ear, those who will help when you ask them for it and those who will move heaven and earth when you have been silent with your needs because they "just know".
I adore my family and I look forward to spending time with them no matter what the occasion may be. Being a rather large family, large in how many of us there are, that is - we can guarantee that we will gather at least twice a month to celebrate birthdays along with the usual other holidays. But, somehow Thanksgiving Day is different. Sure each celebration is fun and unique but there is something about this particular day, a day where we gather to give thanks and partake of a rather large and ugly fowl, that makes being with loved ones extra special. I know it is to give thanks, but isn't that obvious, there is something much more involved with this holiday. Whether it makes you crazy trying to get ready for it or if certain relatives drive you nuts because of their set ways which often leaves you having to come up with a "plan B", on the actual day and time that everyone sits down and begins to eat, you find that certain peace which can only be found on this day. All the trouble you went through is worth it. You look at each person and inside you give thanks for that special thing they did or said during the year that no one else did for you. You get all warm and grateful on the inside that these people are still part of your life and that the good Lord has indeed blessed you because that certain person is still part of this holiday's gathering. You are more blessed on this day/this holiday more than any other because it is a time to see what you have rather than what you don't or what you wish you had. Your blessings are mulitplied on this day when giving thanks. Remember that one cannot be blessed with too much until they are thankful for what they already have.
I am thankful for being the most wealthy person in the world on this Thanksgiving Day celebration. My family is healthy and happy. Plus, we have all gathered yet another year to indulge in our vices as we share in the good eats everyone has prepared and we get to enjoy each other's company one more time because one never knows when the last time will be the last time. So...please join with me to honor the many things and persons in our lives this Thanksgiving Day. Join with me that we are all equally wealthy with what we still have in our lives!
