Thankfultude 2011
As is long since become tradition, each Thanksgiving provides a reason for reflection of gratitude through a list. It’s an easy way to remind yourself of how lucky you are; to keep connected with all that there is that is good in your life. This practice does not have to be exclusive to every third Thursday of November. In fact, it is probably much more effective to growing and sustaining your spirit if it is done on a regular basis.
In any case, for the past few years, I wake up on Thanksgiving day, pull out my phone and spend the first few waking moments of my morning texting some of the people I love most with why I am so thankful for them. I used to go through my phone and text almost everyone on there, but now I have so many people in my address book that I have to be content to celebrate my multitude of friends and be thankful for the fact that I have more people to thank than I have time to do it in.
I never send these texts in hopes of getting anything back, but I’m always humbled and touched by the responses I receive. Ultimately, when you tell people you love them and why you love them, you open up this line of communication that is unrivaled in its level of importance in a relationship. To communicate your love and gratitude is to speak to Love itself, and to have someone likewise confide in you of their returned love is to hear Love speak directly back to you. And for that opportunity to speak of Love, to Love, through Love and from Love is one of the things I am most grateful for.
Other things I am thankful for:
That my grampa just came home, turned on the tv to a Charlie Brown movie, and left it there.
Warm farts in a cold car. Or, alternately, seat heaters.
Inside jokes.
People who know the difference between your and you’re.
Getting to visit my family in Kansas City four times this year. (a new record since 1998!)
Getting to see my best friend three times this year. (also a new record, since 2005!)
That I still have my teddy bear. And that I am totally comfortable with admitting that I tuck Balanca into bed before I leave for each trip.
Each and every one of the 40 flights I have been on in the past year.
My hilarious little sister, who laughs at all of my jokes, even when they’re not that funny.
Every time I see an old couple walking down the street holding hands. It gives me hope in a long-lasting, growing and adaptable love, and faith that I can have the same.
To have learned that I alone can make myself happy through the choices I make. And when I make the choice to live a happy life, it inevitably inspires those around me to take the same step.
A great book.
A hand to hold.
Catching up with friends over a cup of coffee, cider, chai or sushi.
To have started planning for my 30th Birthday Adventure with my closest Sistercousins, which extends to my sisters from other misters.
Being able to say I have played in both the clear waters of the Caribbean and the lively waters of the Pacific in the past year.
A family that loves and supports me.
Being able to touch my toes.
An opportunity to work for a job the prioritizes adventure and lets me work from wherever I am.
Another Thanksgiving with all four of my grandparents, including my gramma, who is kicking lymphoma’s ass.
Long walks with my gramma, talking about the things that are really important in life.
Not having to work retail on Black Friday anymore or wait tables on Christmas Eve.
The most incredible, strong, courageous and inspiring women who are my dearest friends.
A Very Gaga Thanksgiving. Seriously. I’m watching it with my grandparents right now. Grampa thinks she’s a kook, and Gramma is intrigued.
Homemade ILoveYou cards from my cousin, to remind me that she does. Not that I ever doubt it.
I’m incredibly thankful for the fact that my gratitude goes on and on, and I could literally spend hours and pages trying to list them all, and still not feel like I’ve covered it all.