BEING THANKFUL

Once a year we all go through the same tradition. We meet with family and friends, eat a lot of food, and express how thankful we are for the things in our lives. Now if you ve been doing this tradition for a while, more and more it just becomes "I cant wait to eat Aunt Milly's chocolate cake", or "I cant believe I have to sit here while Uncle Jeff gets drunk again and talks about the war". The 30 second prayer giving thanks before dinner is exactly what it is, 15 or so words appreciating what we have and then its over.

Why do we only designate one day out of the 365 that we have each year being thankful for something? To me being thankful is just waking up in the morning. No matter what you have in store for you the rest of that day, the fact of the matter is that you did something over a hundred thousand people didn't do that day.
You Woke Up!

But that's not enough. Not for most of us. Well how about the ones that woke up with a roof over their heads? Now you ve done something that over 3 million other people didn't do that same morning.

And the list can go on and on. So why aren't we thankful for what we have? Why don't we show gratitude for the situations that we re in? Because in this day in age, we re taught that what we have is never enough. It's a beat thy neighbor society. I have a car, but Chuck next door has a better car, so even though I'm perfectly happy with what I have right now, I think I need to get something better that might be more expensive and later on stress me out just so I can "compete" with Chuck.

Being Thankful is saying "The fact that I have a car is awesome". It takes me from point A to point B and that's good enough for right now.

But It's not just materialistic things. How about the people in our lives? Were you raised by both parents? Were you raised by any? I grew up in a single family household. I ve always understood that what I had was special. I knew the way my mom cared and loved me and my siblings didn't happen with some families. So I never looked at not having a father growing up as a crutch. I knew that my situation was a lot better than people I knew with both parents, and I was always thankful for that. You hear people say, "well i don't talk to my mom or dad anymore" or "me and my brother or sister don't talk". When I hear these things being said I think of a quote I really like. 

"Cherish what you have everyday because you cant once its gone".

Be thankful for the people you have in your life.
Be thankful for the little things and the big ones.
Don't wake up in the morning dreading the day, because your worst day would be someone else's best.

Spending everyday appreciating what you have, is a lot better than spending 30 seconds once a year waiting for the prayer to be over so you can eat.