Many Thanks

I’m not a religious person, but I’m strangely religious about Thanksgiving. Rather, I’m religious about the practice of saying thanks, entirely because I think it’s good for the soul and healing for the heart. I try to be mindfully thankful throughout the year; I keep a journal and I’m constantly reviewing and revising a list of the top five things in my life for which I’m thankful. I think of those five things and recite them in my mind—sometimes even out loud—whenever I’m feeling down.

But this time of year, I step back and take a broader look. How have I come to be who I am? Who are the people who have helped me and inspired me, and what resources have enabled me to accomplish the things I’ve accomplished?

I’m thankful for basic comforts, like having a clean, warm place to live and plenty of food to eat. I’m thankful for hot running water and dependable electricity. I’m thankful that my basic rights are protected and that I live in a society in which most people strive to do good and make the world a better place. These are things that much of the world’s population lives without. Some might say that it goes without saying that we should be thankful for these things, and yet I think it’s important to say it. How often do we, really?

I’m thankful that I’ve had access to education and opportunity. I’m thankful for my fifth grade teacher, who encouraged me to do hard math while the other girls chose electives. I’m thankful for my drama teacher, who shoved me toward center stage when I was shaking in my boots, and made me recite my lines again and again until my voice stopped quivering. I’m thankful for my first boss, who laid me off from a job I hated, and for my second boss, who took a leap of faith and hired me to do a job for which I had no prior experience. Ten years later, I’m enjoying an incredible career working alongside some of the most intelligent and talented people I’ve ever met.

I’m thankful for technology… for Facebook and WordPress and Twitter. I love my laptop and I’m helpless without my BlackBerry. But I’m also thankful that I’ve learned how to power down and shut things off. I’m thankful for the precious moments of peace that arise amidst the madness.

And my family… I’m thankful to my dad for cooking dinner every night of the week while I was growing up. I’m thankful for my mom, who held down a full-time job while battling breast cancer and taking care of two (rather difficult) preteen girls. I’m thankful for my sister, who has sass and style and a wellspring of self-confidence. I’m thankful for my grandmother, Laura Mae, who always reminded me to stand up straight, and for my other grandmother, Carmen, who was still laughing and telling jokes as she lay dying on her deathbed at the age of 96. I’m thankful that I have family at all, and that we genuinely enjoy each other’s company. What a miracle that alone is.

I’m thankful that I have so many friends, many of whom I’ve known since preschool and primary school. I’m thankful for all of their kids, who remind me constantly not to take anything too seriously. I feel privileged to be a part of their lives.

I’m thankful for this holiday we call Thanksgiving, for the food and the good times and the memories. I’m thankful, most of all, that I have so much to be thankful for.