Celebrating National Gratitude Day: What Are You Thankful For?

Today is National Gratitude Day! What are you grateful for? Me? I am so grateful. I have so many blessings. I am thankful to be alive. I am thankful that I come from an awesome family, although very large. But what makes me so grateful is that we are together. We don’t always agree or even get along, but I know they are near. I love them and am thankful for them through it all. They are the best. I am sure yours is just as well.

I am thankful for my five senses: touch, smell, sight, hearing, and taste. Trust me, these are something to be thankful for. I didn’t even realize how important each was to me until I started getting some film over my eyes. It wasn’t cataracts or anything like that. I had allowed it to get to the point where I saw shapes at night but really couldn’t make things out. Finally, I could take it no more and went to the doctor. It was some sort of cholesterol issue or something like that. I am just glad I can see. So take care of yourself for me, because you are important.

I am grateful for my emotions and all the bad I have gone through. I am truly blessed. If I didn’t have emotions, I would not know what it means to be sad, anxious, happy, or even confused. Emotions are beautiful because they tell us we are alive.

Bad…I won’t go there. But life is not always beautiful. There is tons of ugly. I am so glad that I didn’t die in the process of my life because there is so much in life other than the bad side. There’s the smile on a stranger’s face after you give them food. There’s the child who hugs their special little toy with the exuberance of a new dad seeing his baby and wife after a long day at work or coming home from war.

I don’t have a fancy house or own a lot of nice things. But I have an awesome husband who pushes me to get out of my shell. I have four wonderful children and a few grandchildren. We each brought kids into our marriage. I have two boys and he has two girls. We are a blended family, and they are all good kids and the grandkids are coming along nicely. I only wish we could spend more time together. But that’s okay.

This world never ceases to amaze me. Take a moment to just think about the human body or anything for that matter. We have a body, correct? It breaks down into organs, right? Then it breaks down even to the point of chemicals (neutrons, protons, and electrons). And I am positive it breaks down even more. I just don’t know the terminology. But each of us is unique just like snowflakes. Wow! That is crazy. The same goes for a tree. It breaks down just as minutely.

This is the best world in the world…lol…It doesn’t matter where you live. It is beautiful. It is distinct from everywhere else. No two places are alike. Just like us. You know, there are places in this world where you can take anything (for example, oil) and they will be able to tell where it was from without being told. Yes, there are microscopes and other equipment that can do that. But that tells you that no two places are alike. How really awesome!

I have every reason to be grateful! I am alive and excited for the chance to grow into a better person each day. I would love to hear what you are grateful for!

“When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”

~G.K. Chesterton