Belated Thanksgivings

Thanksgiving weekend recedes into memory, and I wonder whether even to bother trying to pen (as it were) a belated thankfulness post. However, since I've been pondering the topic off and on for a week and a half already, I'm going to try to put a few thoughts out there. I hate to waste ponders after all. And there is a saying: "Better late than never."

When I was thinking about thankfulness at the time of the Celebration of the Turkey, of course, Cuppa was at the top of my list, with kids and grands not too very far behind. But I'm not a listy kind of guy, and rather than continue to itemize, I soon realized that it was okay to come to the general conclusion that my life has been good.

Because I do feel very fortunate. I really appreciate and enjoy my life, and it seems just as worthwhile for me to put it in that summarizing sort of way than to try to list many specific items. Sometimes, I think that I have been lucky in life, luckier than many. Family has been great, and despite my minor physical limitations (eg back problems), my general health has been remarkably good. It must be a lot harder to enjoy living if you don't feel good, and I can only imagine how difficult it must be to be forced to face each day feeling punky or a whole lot worse.

One might opine that it's easy to love life when it's been so good to me, and it has certainly seemed that way in many respects, but it's also been a very ordinary life, the kind of life that might have left many fellow sojourners dissatisfied. There are those who might even feel dissatisfied and hard-done-by over the same lot in life that leaves me feeling privileged, so, it comes down, at least partly, to attitude. I seem to be able to move on more easily than some. If it wasn't for that almost innate ability, I might be a less content sort of guy because, by many measurements such as wealth, for example, I have not been particularly fortunate. I haven't exactly been rolling in clover all of my life.

However, when I say that the ability to accept and move on is somewhat innate, I must also mention that making the choice to be happy is rather important. Indeed, I was fortunate enough to discover quite some time ago, after a somewhat bleak period, that happiness is a choice. It sounds facile, but, for me, it's almost been that simple. However, although I've also been breathing oxygen long enough to be able to comprehend that it's harder, less natural, for many to make that same choice, I can't see a viable alternative to choosing that outlook.

Oh, I confess to doing my share of stewing when life goes sour, but I try to let it go sooner rather than later. Having written that, I cross my fingers in the hope that the universe decides not to put me to the test with a slew of Job-like trials because I'm afraid that I might fail, and I'd like to keep on enjoying in the decade or two, give or take, that remain.

But really, despite the slight but related tangent that I have taken, I just want to say that I'm thankful that, so far, life has been so good.

I hope that I can say that again next year ... and for many after that.