Once Again I'm Thankful

You know, at this time of year, when people get rushed and crushed and bumped around, it's really easy to start feeling harried and pushed and pressed. I've been swamped at work as people try to get everything done before the holidays, and, unfortunately, it's made me cranky.

Until now.

Had a sanity check that reminded me just what I have to be grateful for.

Trying to take care of all the extra stuff, shopping, decorating, errands, mailing, can be a real pain when you're working long hours. Running around and buying this or that can be a pain, what with the other crazy harried shoppers trying to get stuff done around their own long hours, insane parking lots and checkout lanes extended halfway down the store.

But, you know what? I'm going to have time off for the holidays, with pay. And, whereas I only have to deal with a handful of shopping experiences (I love ordering on-line), many people in retail are dealing with crazy, harassed people all day long and they'll be working some very long hours up to and including the holidays.

So, I'm thankful to all those hard-working people who have unfailingly kept their patience with customers like myself and my ilk, who work those long hours so I can get what I need at times that suit me and my schedules, who make shopping much more pleasant than it might be.

And I'm grateful I don't have to work that hard any more.

And I'm grateful that I have a job in an environment where many are having some hard Christmases with too little money to try to make their families happy, where they might have to face enforced and unpaid furloughs, be facing pay cuts or even be struggling without a job.

I forget sometimes, just how lucky I am. And, if I made the most of my opportunities, I've had them to take advantage of. Not everyone does. I have a lot to be grateful for and it's important I remember that.

Here's to a world where everyone gets the opportunities I have had. My Christmas wish is that everyone has things a little bit easier, a little happier, a little bit brighter than they predicted. And that those of us who have it a little better than we sometimes think we do remember how fortunate we are and not forget those who haven't been quite as fortunate.

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Count Your Blessings

I know Thanksgiving is often described as true American holiday. Whether that's true or not (the timing fits with several cultures' harvest celebrations), I think the notion of counting one's blessings and being grateful for what one has is very healthy, even if stuffing one's face to oblivion isn't.

My aunt Sue described herself to me once as a peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwich kind of gal. I.e., if she has a PB&J, she's happy. And she is happy most of the time, one reason why I enjoy time with her so much.

I'm a bit more demanding than that, but I think that the philosophy of concentrating on what one has rather than everything one does not is a formula that leads to happiness much more than the other. I think much of the anger and resentment of the world would evaporate if people took more stock of what they have rather than what they have not and saw more clearly how so much of the world survives - sometimes quite pleasantly - without so much of what we deem essential.

Anyone reading this is likely already one of the lucky ones. Chances are very good, you have reliable water and electricity. You have a computer and access to the world of information (good and bad) that comes with that. You aren't isolated. Hopefully, you still have a home and enough food that no one goes hungry at night. It's easy to lose sight of these sorts of blessings when one is struggling, perhaps with unemployment or illness, or the loss of someone special, or even the sense that you can't have as good a Christmas as you wanted. It's easy to forget this when you're beset by worries at work or a child with mental issues or bigotry or a relationship that falls apart.

I like to think I'm mostly happy, but, sometimes, I get down or frustrated or angry. I need these moments to remind myself how very exceptionally lucky I am, how grateful I am for my blessings. I'm lucky to have an interesting job I excel at where my skills are appreciated and that pays well, even in this economy. I have a home and a good mortgage (and with a bankruptcy behind me, that was in good measure due to finding a really good lending agent. Thank you, Tim!).

I have three beautiful, talented, intelligent and charming children who delight me. They are all healthy and happy. I have a husband I adore who is a devoted father and conscientious husband, who's smart and kind and fun-loving, who genuinely cares about my happiness, who even gets involved in writing. He is also young and happy and healthy. No one in my house suffers hardship or deprivation. I have two beautiful tailless cats who knock everything off all the surfaces of my house, but let my baby daughter poke and prod them without complaint.

I have the time and capacity to write, something that gives me deep and abiding pleasure. I am heavy myself, but I'm quite healthy, too, and am taking steps to stay that way and get even healthier. I live in a world that accepts my intelligence as natural, where my being a woman doesn't have to make me a second class citizen (which is not always true). I have access to medical care and have good medical insurance - many people do not.

The bottom line is that I have everything necessary for happiness. And I have quite a bit that isn't even necessary, but that I have anyway.

May everyone else find blessings as profound as mine in the near future.

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