The Giving of the Thanks

It's after midnight as I'm posting this, so it's now officially Thanksgiving Day in the US. It may not be original to list things you're thankful for on Thanksgiving, but I still like the idea. After all, what's not to like about a holiday that's about being grateful for the blessings in your life and spending time with people you love! If you don't want to see me get all gooshy and sentimental, you might not want to read this. :-) But if you don't mind a little goosh, then read on. This year I want to say I'm thankful... ...for everyone I love and for everyone who loves me back. ...for my sweet dog friends. Dogs are a living example of how to love freely and without fear. The love of a dog for his or her people is one of the closest things to truly unconditional love this side of God. ...for my fat, obnoxious, somewhat psychotic, and extremely irritating cat. Bless his heart, he drives me nuts, but when he curls up in my lap in the evening and purrs his shriveled little heart out, I remember why I love him. Plus, if dogs are on this earth to show us how to love others, then maybe cats are on this earth to show us how to love ourselves. Even if a cat is stupid, unattractive, or annoying as all get out, that cat still KNOWS he or she deserves love and respect. We should know the same. ...that I have my physical necessities, like a roof over my head, clothes on my back, and food on the table. ...and also that I have many of my spiritual and emotional necessities, like books, peaceful surroundings, books, art (doing it myself and looking that the work of others), books, music, books, adventure, books, movies, and books. We may not have a lot of money, but I feel rich. ...that my body is still hanging in there and carrying me around with no more than the usual aches and pains of middle age. ...and that blogging has giving me a creative outlet I didn't know I wanted until I found it, and allowed me to discover so many fabulous people I wouldn't otherwise have known. To those of you in the US who are celebrating Thanksgiving along with me today, I hope you're having a wonderful day and finding much to be thankful for. For those of you outside the US, even though today isn't a holiday for you, I hope exactly the same thing for you. Because after all, we shouldn't really need holidays to be grateful for the good things in life, yes? Yes! Peace... "Thankful" (clickable)