In everything, give thanks

That is the saying posted over my back door. Most of the time, I do heed it. After all, I have so much to be thankful for! Though sometimes I take the big things for granted and just simply miss the little things. So it is good to have a day like Thanksgiving, to slow down and take time to remember all of the amazing things - big and small - that I am thankful for.

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I'm grateful for my car. It gets crappy gas mileage, but it takes us where we want to go and we would be so limited without it! I'm grateful it's heater and air conditioners work, that all the doors close securely and that the speedometer is dead on.


I'm thankful for my children because they make me a better person. They remind me to laugh and to not forget the beauty in mud or the hilarity of life. They are my raison da etre and bring me immeasurable joy.




I'm grateful for having enough food, for a warm home, for clothing, and computers and books. All of these things I regularly take for granted, but use everyday. There are too many people who don't even have a simple warm bed to call their own. And while I tend to hate cooking, I am ever so grateful to be able to afford the food that keeps us healthy, well, and full.


I'm thankful for my friends, the close ones and the acquaintances. It is through relationships that I discover myself and am able to become a better person. These are special gifts only friends can give.




I'm grateful for my animal friends, too. They love me unconditionally - and, believe me, sometimes that ain't no small feat.




I'm very thankful for knees that work. While I am not able to play the sports that I love, I am able to walk. Walking is a huge gift! I never realized just how important and special it is until I was unable to take the dog for a walk or go to the zoo with my kids. I will never overlook the value of walking again!




I'm so grateful for pretzels! My low fat, high crunch, salty snack that keeps my hips in check. Yum!




I'm thankful that I live at a time when people are nurturing their social responsibility and coupling it with integrity and action to mold our world into all it can be - for all of us. I'm thankful I live in this great country where women have rights and a vote, where we are free to worship in whatever manner we choose and where hard work and diligence can lead almost anywhere.


I'm grateful for the checker in Ralphs. I've read her name four thousand times, but can't remember it. Yet she remembers me and even though weeks often go by between my grocery visits, when I meet her she is full of stories and questions and general good cheer. I used to be embarrassed by all the acquaintances I collect (my children are thoroughly embarrassed....."Mom, is there ANYONE you don't know or talk to??") but now I see how those seemingly silly little conversations connect us all, drawing us closer, and help me to see just how ordinary and extraordinary life is.




I am thankful for my teeth. They have caused me great pain and way too much money, but I can not imagine my life without them.




I am grateful for FaceBook, and Blogspot, and email. My life would seem tiny and isolated without being able to connect to the wonderful, rich array of people in my life via the Internet. I know we lived without it once, but no way I could do without it now!



Perhaps most of all, I'm thankful for time. Time with my family, old and young, close and distant. Time on my own, to preserve my sanity. Time to make amends when I've screwed up and time to start anew. Time to discover more about myself and time to learn more about others. Time to read, to play, to exercise and to sleep. Time enough to live and enjoy this wondrous, sad, breathtaking, horrifying, incredible, joyous adventure called life!