B-More Grateful

As Thanksgiving is tomorrow I have been thinking about the meaning behind that a lot. It also happens that the time of year in which we are to sit back, enjoy family and ruminate on our blessings falls in the middle of what is for most people a very busy and stressful period. Not only are there so many activities back to back, there are all kinds of familial obligations and the added stress that spending a lot of money brings to people. The name of the holiday: Thanks-giving, giving thanks for things, becomes so rote for many and the celebration just one more thing to do, accomplish, plan for or get through. Just like resolutions made at New Years,' the thanks we give is often short-lived and easily brushed off. I myself am feeling more stressed and burdened of late and am seeking each day and week to look for ways to be more appreciative and truly grateful for things so easily taken for granted. By doing this more often and without reference to a holiday, I am trying to make appreciation and gratefulness more of a habit and general world outlook. One of my favorite blogs, http://www.rantsfrommommyland.com/ has run a number of posts about "first world problems" which are amusing and a reality check.  It's easy to feel holiday cheer and think about being thankful for family and friends but we need to appreciate some of the harder things because they remind us of just how the disparities in the world really are. We have clean water to drink and bathe in, although I cringe at my credit card statement, it is made of things that are not necessary for me to live on, I have a house that safely closes and encloses those that provide safety versus those that provide terror behind closed doors. I have the ability drive my car in the difficult rain or snow and am not waiting at a bus stop in them.  I can put clean diapers on my baby and not reuse disposable diapers like some need to.  I can be stumped for a moment about what to be thankful for because my daily existence is not under fire and so I am able to become complacent about all that that safety has ensured. I am not a refugee.  I do not have to hunt for my food, or wait in line for it with hundreds of others when it is flown in from afar. I am thankful for recreation and books and that I have the ability to have an equal vote with people of others genders/races/ages for whatever schmuck seems the least offensive. I can do this without worrying if I will be shot for it. I can argue with my husband about what kinds of gifts to buy our children this season when I should simply be thinking what do gift the tots that do not have any.  I can be grateful for this life and so can we all because every day things happen to us and things happen because of us but we can always choose which makes a greater impact on what we think, see, feel and do. I wish for you all to feel that deep satisfying, humbling appreciation for this ... day of possibility.