The "Art" of Being Thankful

  The holiday known as Thanksgiving is all but forgotten in our lives. Sure, we all expect to overstuff ourselves with turkey and trimmings on the big day and we have a tendency to spout how grateful we are for material things but just how much do we really celebrate this day?  It is sort of just wedged in between two other days that are a bit more popular...Halloween and Christmas.  Halloween is exciting!  It is the up and rising holiday of the age. With costumes, decorations, trick or treating and parties galore, it keeps us occupied for a month.  Then, there is Christmas!  Trees, decorations, gifts, plays, carols, manger scenes and glad tidings to all...it is no wonder that we can hardly await the big day! The festivities start the day after Halloween and continue for nigh on two months.  In between the two, we wish to rest....not celebrate.  My thought on the matter is this.  Do we really even know how to be thankful? Are any of us really adept at the art of being thankful?  Probably not.

  This calls for some restructuring of our thoughts.  Thanksgiving is just as important as any other holiday sandwiched into the calendar of events but it is that art of being thankful that many of us have forgotten. Do we know how to appreciate whatever we have been given?  Mark's grandmother taught me something long ago.  She would wake in the morning giving thanks for another day, she would sing praises all day long and then give thanks again at night before retiring to bed.  Her day was spent being thankful.  Not that she had a lot...she did not.  She lived close to poverty level by her choice.  She had earned her way through life and was truly appreciative of what she had even though it was meager at times.  She had learned the art of thankfulness.  It seems that some folks are forever wanting more.  They need a bigger car, fancier house, nicer clothes, flashy jewelry and such to make them feel important.  Our society sees that as success.  This is so wrong. Happiness is success...the other is nothing more than "bling" used to cover our insecurities

  To be truly thankful, we each need to do a bit of soul-searching and realize that no matter what we have, it can disappear in a blink of an eye. None of us are promised a single day, a next meal or even another breath.  Life is fleeting...happiness is even more elusive.  To be truly happy, one must be at peace with oneself and see that no matter what life hands us, we should give thanks.  Our very existence is a gift and for THAT, my friends, we should be thankful.  So look inside of yourself and find that deep feeling of gratitude for life, for love, for daylight, for darkness and for everything in between...not just for one day or even for one month but for a lifetime.