Some years ago, I started posting about some things that I am thankful for, just as a reminder to me, and presumably to my readers, to be appreciative of the little things. The last one, to my knowledge, came on Thanksgiving Day, fittingly enough.
But a year has now passed, and I never did post another one. Yet, as I read this particular blog from last year, it felt like I pretty much nailed what to be thankful for last year, at least to some degree. So, I will simply report what I wrote last year, but will add this last little bit: I am thankful that my son seems to be very healthy and happy, and at least appears to be doing much better in school this year than he was last year!
Here (below) is what I wrote for Thanksgiving Day last year:
Thanksgiving Day is today. So, what better time to write a blog about being thankful for things than today, right?
But a year has now passed, and I never did post another one. Yet, as I read this particular blog from last year, it felt like I pretty much nailed what to be thankful for last year, at least to some degree. So, I will simply report what I wrote last year, but will add this last little bit: I am thankful that my son seems to be very healthy and happy, and at least appears to be doing much better in school this year than he was last year!
Here (below) is what I wrote for Thanksgiving Day last year:
Thanksgiving Day is today. So, what better time to write a blog about being thankful for things than today, right?
So, let me get to it.
Once again, I am thankful to be able to share and enjoy this Thanksgiving meal with family and friends.
Also, I am very thankful for the relative good health of those family members and friends, as well. The older I get, the more obviously important that is, and the more appreciative I am of it.
More generally, I am thankful also for all of the blessings of life, that make the bad times, the less savory times, more easy to digest and get through.
Here's hoping that those of you reading this have a blessed day!
So now, let me state once again what I am thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day in 2018, without rereading what I was thankful for in the last couple of years:
I am thankful for the people in my life, and for the relative health and happiness of those people and myself. I am thankful to be able to share this Thanksgiving with at least some of those people. I am thankful for all of the other things that I have been blessed with in life, and all that my prior experiences have taught me. And I am thankful that there is still a future with which to make as much as humanly possible, and hope to be up to the task.
Finally, it is my personal belief that this entire country, the United States, would be a lot more pleasant and hopeful if people actually were truly appreciative and thankful for all that they have been blessed with. There are countries in the world where true misery has visited quite frequently. We have seen major wars and humanitarian crises in Syria and Yemen in recent years. Going back a little bit farther, we have seen similar crises in several other nations, including but not limited to Sudan, Rwanda, and the former Yugoslav republics. Many other nations have had serious crises, as well, and not been strangers to serious bloodshed. Countries like the Central African Republic, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe come to mind. Venezuela is suffering through an economic crisis at the moment, and people are growing truly desperate there.
Tensions have been seriously rising here in the United States for many years, even decades, now. And depending on who you ask, there are various different reasons and individuals and groups to blame for all of this. Yet, this is still a first world, wealthy country. On a typical day, in most of the country, there is relative peace. For the time being, we still enjoy a very high overall standard of living. We are not in quite as privileged a place on the international scale as we perhaps used to be, but we are still comfortable and, for the most part, privileged. I think a lot of the tensions that currently exist might substantially subside if more Americans began to truly appreciate some of these simply things. It is my wish that, someday in the hopefully not too distant future, we might actually begin to see this. We would likely be a better nation for it, and chances are, we as individuals would be better for it, as well. Maybe, if there is a chance of that ever happening, it would be fitting for us to recognize all of this on the very day that we call Thanksgiving.
I am thankful for the people in my life, and for the relative health and happiness of those people and myself. I am thankful to be able to share this Thanksgiving with at least some of those people. I am thankful for all of the other things that I have been blessed with in life, and all that my prior experiences have taught me. And I am thankful that there is still a future with which to make as much as humanly possible, and hope to be up to the task.
Finally, it is my personal belief that this entire country, the United States, would be a lot more pleasant and hopeful if people actually were truly appreciative and thankful for all that they have been blessed with. There are countries in the world where true misery has visited quite frequently. We have seen major wars and humanitarian crises in Syria and Yemen in recent years. Going back a little bit farther, we have seen similar crises in several other nations, including but not limited to Sudan, Rwanda, and the former Yugoslav republics. Many other nations have had serious crises, as well, and not been strangers to serious bloodshed. Countries like the Central African Republic, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe come to mind. Venezuela is suffering through an economic crisis at the moment, and people are growing truly desperate there.
Tensions have been seriously rising here in the United States for many years, even decades, now. And depending on who you ask, there are various different reasons and individuals and groups to blame for all of this. Yet, this is still a first world, wealthy country. On a typical day, in most of the country, there is relative peace. For the time being, we still enjoy a very high overall standard of living. We are not in quite as privileged a place on the international scale as we perhaps used to be, but we are still comfortable and, for the most part, privileged. I think a lot of the tensions that currently exist might substantially subside if more Americans began to truly appreciate some of these simply things. It is my wish that, someday in the hopefully not too distant future, we might actually begin to see this. We would likely be a better nation for it, and chances are, we as individuals would be better for it, as well. Maybe, if there is a chance of that ever happening, it would be fitting for us to recognize all of this on the very day that we call Thanksgiving.
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