Thankful

The snow is already up to the tops of my boots here in the burbs of Chicago. I have a snowman I can look eye to eye with in my front yard and yet it's not even Thanksgiving yet. Welcome to the Midwest! It should be 50 by Thursday so all the snow will turn to leafy brown sludge rimed with ice in the mornings. However, it's the time of year we all turn our minds to our blessings instead of the irritations of things like the weather.

I find it interesting that every November my Facebook wall explodes with people telling the world what they're thankful for. Every day for the entire month until we get sucked into the wonderful world of Christmas shopping and elbowing people out of the way for the newest creepy Elmo toy. Don't get me started on that elf on the shelf thing. (Shivers) I swear those things are plotting against us when we're not looking.

Back to thankfulness. I decided to not participate in the public declaiming of thanks this year. I have in the past, but for some reason decided not to this year. I don't know why. I am thankful though. I'm thankful for being tired at the end of the day because I have a job. I'm thankful for not being able to decide what to make for dinner because it means there are choices in my pantry and freezer. I'm thankful for dog hair on the carpet because it means one of my boys is still with me. I'm thankful for toys all over the table and shrieky little girl laughter because it means that my daughter is happy and able to play. I'm thankful for a full calendar and busy days, for too many presents to buy and too much food to prepare, a house to clean and a car to fill with gas. It means I have a lot of friends and family who want to celebrate with us. I have a house I can afford and a car to get back and forth to the job and hobbies that keep me so busy.

I don't like waiting until the end of the year to count my blessings. I try and remember to take a little bit of time more often throughout the course of the year, but if you don't or you can't I hope this season reminds you to count those blessings. There's a quote that I'm sure I'm just going to paraphrase--there are people who wish they were you.

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