Happy Thanksgiving!

It is Thanksgiving Day in America!



I love Thanksgiving.  For me it is not merely the "gateway holiday" to the "real holidays" of December.  It is not Black Friday Eve.  It is a special day all its own.

Sure, you can argue that it is a tradition mired in atrocities, that the story of the Pilgrims and Native Americans was a bloody one.  Even that the First Thanksgiving wasn't anything like we think it was and commemorate today.

Well I don't care about any of that!  Yes, I care that the Pilgrims were a-holes to the Natives.  But what I care about more is Gratitude.

On this day last year my friend Jessica and I both started daily Gratitude blogging for the Holidays.  We kept it up til the New Year.

I know how to be Grateful.

I have a lot I could be negative, pessimistic and just plain angry about.  But I choose not to.  I CHOOSE to see the good in my life.  I focus on the positive and I can laugh in the face of what might otherwise make me cry.

And honestly, I get a little impatient with people who don't, or won't.  I wonder, what the hell are you doing then?  Are you going to be able to SEE what life is really all about stuck there staring at your half empty glass?  Will you ever find peace and contentment?

I believe that life is a journey.  I believe we are meant to keep learning and growing until the day we die (and maybe beyond for that matter).  I know life is a roller coaster.  I know it's not all sunshine and roses.  Believe me, I know THAT!

BUT.  There is so much good.  There are things like a child's giggle, a pink sunset, fragrant roses, a purring cat and HUGGING.

So this Thanksgiving I am thankful for my ability to feel Gratitude.

(I'm not talking about those who are clinically depressed and struggle to see the good for that reason.  I am talking about those who are just plain old Negative Nellys.)