Happy Thanksgiving?

It’s been a year of amazing blessings, but also a lot of extra pain and uncertainty, not to mention the ups and downs of having to take a new medication that has some unpleasant side effects. More than one person I know has died this year. Others are slowing down due to age or illness. And the world seems so much more dark than ever before.

I am an optimistic person, and so I refuse to rest long on the darkness or the pain. I tend not to linger over loss. But, yes, like many of you, I can acknowledge that it can be hard to find things to be thankful for this year.

So, I take my God-given optimism and turn it inward. If, on a particularly bad day, it’s hard to find big things to be thankful for, then I’m thankful for the small.  A warm breeze. A perfectly ripe blueberry. A moment of total silence. A breath of fresh air that I know is cleansing me inside and out. A warm memory of a dear loved one. I remember, too, that it is up to me to notice these small things; neither God nor anyone else can make me see them if I’m not open to doing so. It truly is up to me to encourage that openness.

I lift up thanks for those amazing blessings this year, and all the love that surrounds me. And, yes, even in the pain and uncertainty, I lift up thanks for the smaller things that help me balance “bad days” and cut through darkness with the light of faith.

Yes, Happy Thanksgiving! May you find many small things to be grateful for, and may they overflow so abundantly that your heart will be filled and more by infectious joy!

Peace,

Maureen