Many people reading this newsletter may be having a tough time feeling thankful this holiday season. Some may be overwhelmed with the pain of grief as they face the first Thanksgiving after the death of a dear loved one. Others may be filled with anger or fear after a diagnosis that makes the coming months seem impossible. These are just some of the reasons it is so important for friends to stay nearby during difficult times.
The sun shines and warms and lights us and we have no curiosity to know why this is so; but we ask the reason of all evil, of pain, and hunger, and mosquitoes and silly people.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
So often we ask "Why me?" about the circumstances we don't like, failing to notice that the majority of the time the sun shines on us, the birds sing, and, for the most part, all is well and right with the world. It's so easy to take the good stuff for granted.
One of the most compelling parts of the movie "Mr. Rogers and Me" was when Fred Rogers received a lifetime achievement award. He thanked a number of people and then asked the audience to spend 10 seconds thinking about the people who had supported them, who shaped their lives and made them who they are. Whoa. Most of us need more than 10 seconds. There are so many fine and good individuals and things to be thankful for, especially those we experience every day:
Friends. Family. Indoor plumbing. Green traffic lights. Music that makes you feel like dancing.
Sometimes it takes adversity and loss to appreciate just how good life is, just as it may take a bitterly cold winter to really fully appreciate the arrival of spring. And there are silver linings that come with adversity. If some unfortunate things had not happened, other important and positive things might never have happened, either. Disasters are opportunities for heroism. And what does not kill us can make us stronger, kinder, and maybe even leave us with a better sense of perspective, or even humor.
It is Thanksgiving: a day to consider, with gratitude, how blessed we really are.
