Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the United States. And though it has been adopted by a few other countries, the American observation of the holiday remains a unique one. Thanksgiving has been part of America's identity since the early seventeenth century, most notably by the Pilgrims of the Plymouth colony in 1621. The notion of the American people giving thanks to God for the blessings He had bestowed was further ingrained by the Continental Congress in 1777.
And then in 1789 President George Washington famously proclaimed a day of national thanksgiving. That pretty much sealed the deal. Thanksgiving would forever be a sacred time for the American people.
My experiences with Thanksgiving have been varied. Some of them have been good. Others, not so much. I don't want to dwell on the latter though. I like to believe that recent years, months actually, have brought deliverance from much of that pain. Yet Thanksgiving will forever be something that I approach with trepidation. It's the entire month of November, actually. While writing my book it struck me how so much has happened in my life during the various months of November... and not all of that very good. There has been a lot of family heartbreak during November and now that I realize it, that has cast a pall on this month, maybe from now on.
But in spite of that, there are enough good things that have been in my life that I cannot but have a grateful heart about. And I can definitely honor God by remarking upon those.
So here, as part of what has at various times been a holiday tradition (though it's been five years since the last time I did this), are what I am thankful for right now...
I am thankful for my relationship with God, that has grown so much over the course of the past few years. I think part of that is because I have made it a prerogative to choose to be thankful, in spite of how circumstances have sometimes gone.
I am thankful for the work that I have right now. That was definitely an answered prayer.
I am thankful for the many wonderful people who are in my life, who have been there for me when I needed that most.
I am especially thankful for my "inner circle", my closest friends who really are precious family.
I am thankful that I have a roof over my head and a working vehicle.
I am very thankful for my dog Tammy. I thank God for her each morning and evening, and I pray that He might let us have many more wonderful years together.
I am thankful that this year I got to see my book Keeping the Tryst published after a decade of on and off work upon it. And it seems that others are enjoying reading it. I am very happy about that. Maybe the new year will see it discovered by even more people, too.
I am thankful for some opportunities that have opened up, and I am looking forward to seeing what happens with them.
I am thankful for my overall health. And especially my mental health. After half a lifetime of dealing with bipolar disorder, I can truthfully testify that my mind is at last my own. Are there moments where things could be better? Yes, there are. Those will always be a threat to live with. But manic depression no longer looms over me like a monster. That is a beast that has in greatest part been brought to ground.
I am thankful that I have lately begun reading for pleasure again, more than I had been. I suppose I've been so fixated on my own book, that I'd forgotten how much fun it is to read the classics. In the past month or so I've been re-reading the Harry Potter series. It's almost like a spark of childhood has been re-ignited in me and I want to nurture that.
I am thankful for my iPad Pro: my most indispensable tool. Although I'm now on the second keyboard for it (cranking out 142,023 words of my book took a toll on the first keyboard, especially the "t" key).
I am thankful that I did not require surgery in September (long story)!
That's what comes pretty much comes most to mind for this occasion. And I shall pray that YOU, Dear Reader, will have even more things to list that you are grateful for this Thanksgiving :-)
