Happy Gratitude Awareness Day!

 Hi!

Here in Canada, it's Thanksgiving weekend. 

It's a holiday that carries a heavy history, just like the holiday of the same name celebrated by our neighbours to the South. They celebrate a bit later, but it's the same idea. 

I don't really believe that the original idea of "Thanksgiving" is something that should be celebrated. To think we should celebrate this coming together for a bountiful and generous meal.  As if the Indigenous people of Canada had options. We weren't invited to their land. They were invaded and taken advantage of. They were victims of several attempts at genocide both physical and cultural. 

Yeah, so to celebrate the traditional thanksgiving doesn't sit within an open conscience very well.

I still think, on the other hand, that setting aside a day or weekend for gratitude awareness is awesome. So let's do that, shall we? Set this time aside to be grateful.

I, for one, am thankful for the steps taken toward healing and reconciliation, even if there are miles to go. No journey, difficult or otherwise, can have even the smallest of starts without at least a few steps. Hopefully, as we find our stride, much more ground will be covered with much larger and ever more meaningful steps. 

I'm thankful to live where I live. There are so many places around the world living through torturous turmoil. Never knowing from one day to the next if tomorrow will come for them or their loved ones. 

I'm thankful for my four safe walls, a sheltering roof, a warm place to sleep, and three squares a day. 

I'm thankful for my Mom, my brothers and my sister. We aren't able to get together often, but we don't need to to know we are always there if needed. They are goofy, sarcastic, funny, stubborn, and loyal, they are family.

I'm thankful for good friends. The kind who say yes without having to know the reason why. The kind that will tell you the truth if it needs to be heard, embrace your ability to be a bad influence when it's called for, the Monica to your Rachel, the Thelma to your Louise, minus the gross murdery stuff, oh, and the whole driving off a cliff thing.

I'm thankful for my loving husband, four daughters, two sons-in-law, and all of my grandbabies. They are my reason, and always will be. They are the best of everything I am. 

I'm thankful.

So gratitude awareness.

Let's take a minute to remind ourselves not to take who and what we have for granted. 

Big things, little things, tiny things, all of it.

The beautiful turn of the leaves, the crisp air, a hot cup of coffee, an eclectic, satisfying playlist, a good book, a fresh cinnamon bun, a bike ride, a walk, a warm hug, and the ability to enjoy all of it without giving any of it a second thought. 

So, have some turkey, or ham, or chicken, a peanut butter sandwich, or pizza, or whatever gets your taste buds excited, eat a slice of pumpkin pie, or apple, or a chunk of whatever dessert makes you smile. Get together with family and friends, or sit with a book in a tub of bubbly, candle-lit solitude. 

Everyone's situation is different, hell, every day is different. Some days it's easy to find things to be grateful for. On other days, it can feel nearly impossible. It's on the hard days that it matters most. It's easy to be grateful when things are good, when we are flooded with light. It's in the darkness, when we have to search for something to hold on to, that's when we have to dig a bit deeper. Even if it means finding a speck of something so small it can barely hold the weight, place your gratitude there, and watch it grow. 

****************************************************

May you find something to hang your gratitude hat on. It's there, it just might take a bit of digging.