It’s that time of year again!
Our friends in Canada (hi everyone!) had their official Thanksgiving day last month. Now, it’s our turn.
Once again, I draw your attention to the Gratefulness.org website. This is a website devoted to reminding us about the things in life that are good, while recognizing that there are still things out there that aren’t so good.
I like the phrase “attitude of gratitude” — I have been using it for years, and honestly don’t know if it’s my invention or if I heard/read it somewhere else. But it neatly encapsulates how I try to approach life.
Honesty time, recap: I suffer (have for at least three decades) from several types of depression and anxiety: Seasonal depression in the gray, short days of winter; I had long-term post-partum depression after each pregnancy (not all resulted in children); I fight sporadic depression that is just depression… which is probably the result of the extreme generalized anxiety and social anxiety (hard to stay upbeat when everything scares you); I get panic attacks and I also have PTSD (post traumatic stress) from some incidents when I was younger that come back to bite me. Medications sometimes help, and living a quiet life definitely helps, but these things are pretty much always there in the background. I have some physical challenges as well that sometimes keep me house-bound if not bedridden.
Still, I manage to have a lot of friends (many were initially online friends who have since become very real friends), a relatively pleasant home life, a wonderful husband, and some very interesting projects. I consider my life to be extremely good!
I encourage everyone to honestly acknowledge the things that are not perfect in their lives, but not to dwell on them unless they require work at that moment. This for me can be a struggle, but when I can — then I focus on the truly good things, my happy and healthy kids, my thousands of books, my ability to stay warm in the winter, my many patient, enduring friends. These are simple, but for me profound sources of happiness.
And I am pretty much always trying to find something new, to learn or give back to the world, to improve myself in some way. This year, I am doing the NaNoWriMo challenge (so far keeping up with the word count), helping my mother in her classroom, and staying in touch with my kids’ teachers. These keep me growing, and interested in life. I hope they also make me interesting!
I love my garden (when I can work in it), I really love to do art; and this year I am very much enjoying working in three different schools with kids of various ages –first grade to high school. It’s volunteer work, but I am making a difference, and it feels good.
What are you grateful for? What are the things you can improve? Count your blessings, and then pass them on, in ways large and small.
You will be glad you did.
Happy Thanksgiving!