Something to be Thankful For:
Thanksgiving Thoughts 2023
As we draw near to the end of the year 2023 and rapidly approach the Thanksgiving Day; the hustle and bustle of the upcoming festivities on the forefront of my mind; I’m ever drawn towards the simplicity and deep meaning of the Thanksgiving holiday.
It’s the simple things that come to mind; a roof over my head; my kids snuggled under fluffy comforters; our new German Shepard pup chewing a bone on her bed in front of the fire place; my girlfriends hand to hold and lips to kiss as we plan and prepare for the holidays soon to be spent together with our merged families; our own version of Yours, Mine and Ours; the coolness of the crisp morning air, the soft afternoon breeze and the smell of coffee brewing first thing every morning.
Life has its ups and downs, struggles and successes, yet if we allow only these to take up our mental space we miss out on so much of the beauty of life; the things we really ought to be thankful for daily.
The crunch of gravel under our feet, the ability to hold a hose and water our favorite plants outside the front door; even the ability to bend over and pull a weed from the ground and feel the prickle of its leaves on our bare skin; and the muscles in our arm that allow us to then toss that weed off to the side out of the way.
We have the ability to move, to breathe, and interact with the world around us. We have the ability to experience and feel emotions — of course not all of them are good — would you rather not have any of them though? The ability to feel the world around us and its emotional impact on our life — that is something to be thankful for each day.
My favorite song over the last month or so was written by Larry Fleet; titled ‘That’s Where I Find God’. The song is about the little things in life that draw us near to God and the emotions and feelings we connect with throughout life; and remind us of what we have in our lives to be thankful for and about daily.
The chorus goes like this: ‘From a bar stool, to that living room, Sunday morning in a church pew, in a deer stand, out in a hay field, on that interstate back to Nashville, a Chevrolet with the windows down, me and him just riding around, sometimes, whether I’m looking for him or not, that’s where I find God.’
Another line says:
‘Well I ain't too good at praying…but thanks for everything.
Simple, heartfelt, and all encompassing.
You know, I identify with that line because, well frankly, I ain’t too good at praying myself, but everywhere I look I choose daily to whisper a quick thanks to the ‘man upstairs’, and it lifts my spirits just that much more.
Be thankful for everything. You never know what your gonna miss, till its gone, moved on or years in the past; and you reminisce with a tear in your eye about what you missed out on, because you chose not to live in the moment and be thankful for everything you see, feel, touch, and interact with in this world.
Happy Thanksgiving
J.C. Miller
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