I am thankful today.
I don't want to start by saying "in the wake of this election". I don't want to start by defending who I am, or by attacking who you are. I don't want to start by shoving my political beliefs down your throat. I don't want to start by bashing either party or candidate. And I don't want to finish that way either.
What I would like to do, is to take a moment, not "in the wake of this election," but simply on a beautiful November afternoon, to remember all the things that I am so, incredibly thankful for.
I am thankful for loving, supportive, encouraging parents - who remind me often that I am loved, that I am talented and intelligent, and who provided me always with a path that was able to lead my life in the direction of success.
I am thankful for my education, and for the opportunity to educate my students. My own education came in many different forms and in many different places: both high school and college classrooms, dinner tables, stuffy gyms, chilly softball fields, my seat in the audience at a theater, bars and poetry slams, libraries, passenger seats, and the list goes on. Education (mine and, I'm sure, yours) has been both formal and informal, but I am so very grateful for it, and for the opportunity to share it and develop it with others.
I am thankful to have my health and for the good health of my family members.
I am thankful for religious freedom. I think it goes without saying why this is important - important to me, and I'm sure to others who both share in my religious beliefs or possess their own that are very similar to or different from mine, and hopefully to you - whichever category you may be in.
I am thankful for literature - for the power that can come from great works of fiction and beautiful poetry.
I am thankful for friendships, and for those friends whom I could and would call had I a particularly bad day, rough breakup, happy news, or joyful success. To be in the possession of friendship is luck in and of itself.
I am thankful for coffee, for strangers that smile, for long drives, Netflix, and Fall.
I am thankful to have a support system that rarely, if ever, doubts my ability to succeed, that lifts me up and reminds me that failing does not make you a failure. It simply presents you the opportunity to work harder.
I am thankful for those people in my life who have sacrificed to show me what hard work means, what hard work looks like, what it means to stand firm in your beliefs, and to earn what you are given.
I am thankful for more things than I can count. And while there is hurt in the world, while there is hatred and judgement, betrayal, and fear, there is also hope. There is joy. There is faith. There is love. I choose to be grateful for those things today. I should choose to be grateful for them more often.
What I would like to do, is to take a moment, not "in the wake of this election," but simply on a beautiful November afternoon, to remember all the things that I am so, incredibly thankful for.
I am thankful for loving, supportive, encouraging parents - who remind me often that I am loved, that I am talented and intelligent, and who provided me always with a path that was able to lead my life in the direction of success.
I am thankful for my education, and for the opportunity to educate my students. My own education came in many different forms and in many different places: both high school and college classrooms, dinner tables, stuffy gyms, chilly softball fields, my seat in the audience at a theater, bars and poetry slams, libraries, passenger seats, and the list goes on. Education (mine and, I'm sure, yours) has been both formal and informal, but I am so very grateful for it, and for the opportunity to share it and develop it with others.
I am thankful to have my health and for the good health of my family members.
I am thankful for religious freedom. I think it goes without saying why this is important - important to me, and I'm sure to others who both share in my religious beliefs or possess their own that are very similar to or different from mine, and hopefully to you - whichever category you may be in.
I am thankful for literature - for the power that can come from great works of fiction and beautiful poetry.
I am thankful for friendships, and for those friends whom I could and would call had I a particularly bad day, rough breakup, happy news, or joyful success. To be in the possession of friendship is luck in and of itself.
I am thankful for coffee, for strangers that smile, for long drives, Netflix, and Fall.
I am thankful to have a support system that rarely, if ever, doubts my ability to succeed, that lifts me up and reminds me that failing does not make you a failure. It simply presents you the opportunity to work harder.
I am thankful for those people in my life who have sacrificed to show me what hard work means, what hard work looks like, what it means to stand firm in your beliefs, and to earn what you are given.
I am thankful for more things than I can count. And while there is hurt in the world, while there is hatred and judgement, betrayal, and fear, there is also hope. There is joy. There is faith. There is love. I choose to be grateful for those things today. I should choose to be grateful for them more often.
Comments
Post a Comment